Brady has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. It has been _________ for his family and his students. He was _________ not only because he was a rising star, but also because he had recently _________ the highest honors for young researchers at the White House.

We truly _________ him — as someone put it, “He always has a smile and a kind word for everyone.” It is very _________ to find someone who is extremely intelligent should be so nice.

Last week, I bought a simple card, reading, “Healing thoughts and wishes are coming your way. We are all _________ for your recovery”. I met and made all his students, who have worked pretty closely with him, sign and add a _________ on it.

He is still undergoing intense treatment, trying his best to stay _________ and hopeful. He didn’t show any trace of self-pity or sadness when I met him. _________, he paid attention to every word of my presentation and asked me several questions __________ to my work, though being in great __________. I saw an expression of joy and hope on his face as he opened the card. He said he was __________ to see the messages from the students. Then he __________, “I am trying to focus on staying positive, hoping to be back this summer.”

Despite being too sick to teach classes, my professor has managed to continue being a great teacher, introducing his last __________ messages to us. It is so important to tell people how much they __________ to us before it is too late.

You are only three years old, and at this point in your life you are not able to understand this letter. But some day when you_________, I hope you will find something_________in what I am going to share with you.

Life can be_________. There will be people in your life who won't be very nice. They’ll_________you because you are different, _________for no good reason. You will also face heartbreak and might be_________by those you love. I hope you don't have to face these too much, but such things_________.

Be open to life anyway. You'll find cruelty(残忍)and_________in your journey through life, but don't let that_________you from finding new things. I don't retreat(退却)from life, and don’t__________or wall yourself off. Be open to new things, new experiences, and new people. You will__________many times, but if you allow that to stop you from trying, you will__________ many chances. Do remember failure is a stepping stone to__________.

You will meet many people who will try to do__________than you, in school, in college, and at work. They'll try to have nicer cars, bigger houses, nicer clothes, and so on. To__________,life is a competition. However, I believe life is a__________. If you always try your best to__________others, you are wasting your life. Learn to enjoy your life__________and you will make it a journey of __________of learning and of love.

Finally, know that I love you and always will. You are__________a really wonderful journey, and I will always be there for you.

Love

Dad

“If I wasn’t looking at you, I’d have thought you were white.”

I often get comments like that from classmates, friends and _________ my family members. Sometimes I laugh back, but the comments also _________ my feelings.

I’m a descendant (后裔) of Africans _________ in a black family in a largely black neighborhood. For people around me, being black is an _________. If you’re black, you listen to hip-hop, R&B and reggae. _________, it appears as if you’re from another planet. I do a lot of things that my peers don’t _________ with being black. They laugh at me because I _________ certain black rappers. They _________ me about watching TV shows whose characters are mostly white. They _________ call me “Oreo”: black on the outside, white on the inside.

It’s not just friends who __________ me “white”. One time, I was reciting some lyrics from a rap song and tried to move like the singer, thinking I was doing well __________ my sister’s hard laughter broke my __________. It hurt that even my own sister didn’t __________ me as black enough.

__________ about who I was, I wondered if I could __________ myself into someone my peers would recognize as a __________ black girl. So I put on big hoop earrings with hair dyed. I was __________ to fit in with the culture. However, it __________ wasn’t me.

Now, I’m more __________ of who I want to be: me. I even call myself “Princess Oreo”. It’s not that I’m purposely __________ white. Instead, I just like what I like.