1 . On a Friday evening in December, I lost my job. That was _________. I was excited about the weekend, when my daughter Kristil and I _________ to get our Christmas tree. Then I listened to my voicemail: “We are sorry, but we decided to _________ you.” I was a single mother and my income was survival. The next day, I struggled to be _________ as I eyed the Christmas tree prices.

Over the next week, I applied for _________ like crazy as my bank account grew smaller. On a weekend afternoon, I dropped Kristil in a _________ community for a birthday party surrounded by all the nice things that we couldn’t _________. I drove home feeling sad.

Back at home, I looked out the window at the heavy snow and _________ a woman opening her car door against the strong wind. As she _________, I realized it was my old teacher, Sister Esther. I rushed out and asked, “What are you doing out in this ____________?” She said, “I looked for you at your ____________ and it was said that you had left, so I thought I would ____________.” I made her tea and we talked. Before leaving, she handed me a Christmas card.

Later on when I opened her card, I was ____________. There was a lot of money inside. Tears of gratitude filled my eyes as I ____________. Sister Esther had given me $1,000. In 2020, at age of 91, Sister Esther died, but the ____________ she gave during her life lives on in my heart.

2 . This is the last Christmas that Faye and Matthew have spent in their house, which has already been sold. Faye and Matthew Gooding and their five young sons appear to have perfect lives. For the couple themselves, however, this “materially perfect world” was lacking in something—so now they are giving up all their possessions to travel around the world with their children. Most of their belongings have been given to their neighbors. Faye said, “It is a relief to get rid of so many possessions. Thankfully, our parents understand and support us.”

“I hesitated for a while because some friends think Faye and I are mad to give up so much. When we told the older boys, they were so excited that they were going to have so much time as a family. It made me realize the amount of toys or material possessions can’t replace time spent with our children. They’ve had to give away so many toys, bikes and books. My wife Faye was so determined to keep to our plan,” said Matthew.

They will leave this month and plan to start their travels in Sweden where they have friends. Faye said, “My older boys plot where we go next but we hope to see Europe and over two years travel as far as Japan, America, Bali and Thailand. We don’t plan to hire any tour guides. We just depend on a compass and local people to move in the right direction.”

Faye, who posts on Instagram as a mother of five boys, added, “It is a risk because we are giving up so much. I, however, even plan to quit my job after the travel. We can’t wait to spend more time with our sons without the stresses of everyday routines. We don’t know what will happen, but we do know if we didn’t do this we would always regret it.”

My wife and I were at a wonderful birthday celebration yesterday for a dear family friend, and the party was filled with many friendly faces, some of whom I had not seen for a while.

Among those faces was a man, who is now an accomplished and highly-regarded lawyer. I interacted with him in a professional sense about 20 years ago. At that time, he and I worked closely together over a period of about six months. We spent some time together, and I got to ask him lots of questions during that time. I don’t think about that time of my life often anymore, but every time I do, I think of him fondly. He was smart, competitive and a great guy.

When we ran into each other yesterday, it became a wonderful opportunity to catch up with the old days. We spoke a lot about the life 20 years ago. We also talked about kids, family and updates on professional pursuits... all the usual stuff. After seeing him, the memories of that time came back vividly. At that time, we were working together on the preparation for a case he was going to handle. We had many conversations about how to prepare for the case. And how he and I got through the difficult period came to my mind immediately.

On the way back home from the party, I thought about the many conversations we had. And then I remembered that he had sent me a book that he said was very important to him but unfortunately, I placed it in the basement without reading. So when I got home, I went into the basement, where I kept all sorts of things from my life.

And thankfully, I was able to find the book.

Immediately, I found his address and drove to his home.

4 . Gameil William-Allen is a teacher in Glenmuir High. She often tries to ______ her students by telling her own story to them in the classroom.

Being aware of the ______ that some students might be feeling ______ after not scoring the good results they hoped for, Williams-Allen decided to share her story of four-time ______, so they can make another attempt.

“I attended Vere Technical High at the time and when I just ______ the subjects that I liked, I remember my teacher telling me, ‘Girl, you are going to be ______ not doing maths and English in school,’” she recalled.

Reality ______ Williams-Allen When she applied to a college and was told she needed a pass in maths and English to be ______.

So, for four years, she attended evening classes, sitting and resitting the two exams but she failed in the four ______.“On the fifth go, I made up my mind ______ I realized that if I didn’t pass maths and English, I would not be able to ______ my dream,” she shared. “So I put in even more ______ , and study harder.”______, she passed the exams and went to college.

She always encourages her students by telling her own story. “I just want every student to be ______ and know that as teachers, we do make mistakes and we do fail. So no matter how low you are, you can ______ just like me.”

5 . On a recent trip to Quebec, I slept over at the only ice hotel in North America.

Upon check-in, I was directed to a sweet woman nestling warmly next to the fireplace, who kindly reminded us that there would be no lockers or Internet access and that we’d better eat a heavy meal.

Following her advice, we ate everything on our plates at dinner even if we were full. But we couldn’t free us from our anxiety at that point. When dessert came, we started calling other hotels to see if they had any openings. When the eighth hotel we called wanted to charge us about $80 more than the online price, we just decided to go back to sleep on a bed of ice.

Once in the room, we began trying to figure out how to get comfortable in a room full of ice. Have you tried taking off your shoes in a room in which the floor is ice and not get your socks wet? It took me three yoga (瑜伽) positions to get this accomplished.

Rolling around to get all the way into the bag. I zipped myself up and said my good nights. And then I felt this sharp pain in my head. My hat had metal bands on it. The metal was getting cold in the...well...cold. I took my hat off and my head started to get cold. I sunk down further into my sleeping bag and thought to myself, “Well, at least if I die in here, it will be in my sleep.”

The next thing I knew, the hotel staff was giving us a real wake up call (they stand outside your room and tell you to get up! ).

The reward of having slept in a hotel made of ice? Now, no matter who is complaining and what the problem is, my response can be, “Did you sleep in an ice hotel? On a genuine bed of ice? No ? I did!”

7 . Najma Hashi (also named Nujuum) is a respected female artist, whose paintings are winning a global following. But Nujuum is not your _________ next-generation rising star. Nujuum, 26, grew up in Somalia, where new artists, especially female ones, are _________ from pursuing art.

This young artist grew up in a _________ living environment, which she has _________ to watching a horror movie: war, drought, poverty and hunger. Since Nujuum was seven, _________ Nujuum went, she felt moved to paint. As a child, on her way home from school, she would sit by the _________ and draw pictures in the sand. “I was thinking of creating my own little world, getting away from the _________. Art has always been a form of _________ for me.” As she went through school, she drew a whole city on her bedroom wall using her school pencils.

However, Nujuum was _________ that art isn’t a respected profession in her country. “Art, __________, in the Somalian community is not a good thing to do,” she says. Her mother did not share her dreams, nor did her neighbors who considered them __________.

This __________ made her give up art for a while. However, she realized that she had a __________: “Either I continue drawing and painting and create a beautiful life or I stay unhappy for the rest of my life.” Finally, Nujuum turned her __________ in art into something she could make a living from.

She __________ opening a school one day for other talented local artists, enabling them to choose art as a career too.

10 . It was on my 30th birthday. When I came back, my mother was________herself proudly in her usual chair, with two shirt boxes ________blue paper and a pink card in front of her. “Happy birthday!” she said,________at the boxes. “Open them.”

My mom had got me________what I wanted, as she always knows me. I hugged and thanked her and________to eat the chocolate cake. “High calories, I shouldn’t have done that,” I said, not really caring. Mom waved off my put-on ________and laughed. Two weeks later, I came upon the same________:   my mom sitting in the chair; a chocolate cake next to blue shirt boxes,________, a yellow card this time. I was aware she had ________Alzheimer’s (阿尔茨海默氏病) .

Four long years passed. I now have a 15-month-old son, Ben. Lately my mother has been reading to him, the ________ character and plot every time. It doesn’t________to Ben that he’s heard the story, and he doesn’t mind her poor ________, because every minute is new for him too.

I begin to enjoy the situation and realize we are ________. My mother is in bad, but stable condition.________is better than a decline. Change will come; her remembrance may ________further, but I’ll be in the frontline.