I wrote a letter to my kids a few years ago. It’s three pages long, and it sums up what I’ve learned in four________of life. My kids are too________to understand now, but by the time they reach________, they will have heard most of the advice in that letter: Live in the moment, do not________yourself to physical things and follow your dreams, etc.

I sealed the letter in a plain white envelope and wrote________not to open it unless something horrible happened to me. As a police officer, I’ve seen life put to an end or irrevocably (不可逆地)________in an instant. I realized that could happen to me at________time. If something does happen to me, my children will get that________. In it, they will read about my love for them and about the advice that I want to________on to them.

Every day, when I open my locker, I see the letter. It________me to be careful at work, and to show my children and the people I come into contact with that I________understand and practice everything I’ve written. If that day comes and my children________read the letter, I hope that because of my actions, they will take my written beliefs to heart and improve upon my________.

But for me, it’s not enough to write down my beliefs. I try to be the________person I can be every day—even in very difficult circumstances, even with________people. I also get depressed, or________my kids occasionally, and sometimes I’m not as________or as considerate as I should be. In fact, I am________perfect, but I hope my children will eventually realize that________is an illusion (错觉、幻觉). What really matters is that, instead of just writing about our beliefs, we all take________to be the best humans we can be.

I love the feeling of exchanging goods with my parents. When we visit them, we often end up _______home more things than we brought with us.After packing up at the end of our most _______ visit, and after the last _______and sounding of the car horn (喇叭), I took a quick look at the back —_______ of our car. At the top of the pile, folded _______,and smartly, were, a 50-year-old baby blanket, several doilies (小型装饰桌巾）_______ from generations of women in my family, and two small _______

These creative quits, looking _______but quite lovingly worn (破旧的), remind me of my great-grandmothers who were always _______hard. I think of the pieces of cloth ____________ over the floors of their living rooms. I think of their ____________hands and the regular pattern of ____________from their sewing machines (缝纫机). I think of their laughter their smiles and the wisdom found in the comers of their eyes.

I wish l could go back in time, and watch them ____________these quilts, and I value the quilts my great-grandmother ____________. I love knowing that the women who ____________the way for my own path through life have left behind touchable expressions of themselves.____________I touch the worn cloth of each creation, I will always remember the women whose hands brought them into ____________. I will be ever ____________for the strong women in my family who have lived ____________me and with me, who have left behind unbelievable examples to ____________lovely quilts to pass on.

My grandfather was a serious man. A quick look from him was enough to keep my sisters and me in line. _________ every summer I looked forward to seeing Grandpa in his farm. We enjoyed every moment of feeding and washing the animals.

Grandpa was a man who didn’t show his _________easily. There were times he caught us touching some of his personal things or exploring places that we weren’t _________ to. His quiet scolding (责备) left us _________ for the rest of our stay.

One morning I heard “clickety-clack, clickety-clack, ping”. I stopped and found where the sound _________: Grandpa in his study, typing a letter. I leaned _________ to see better when I fell through the door. For a while I _________ on the floor of the study. I stood up and went red in the face, hoping the scolding would be short.

Grandpa’s eyes shone. He called me over. I went to him _________ with my eyes looking at the floor. He asked what I was doing, and I told him that I was drawn by the _________ of the typewriter. I only wanted to get a better __________. I wasn’t going to touch anything, I __________.

The rest of the summer I stood near his elbow watching him type. How I wished to __________ the beautiful yellow keys with steel rims.

After going home, I spent the year writing poems, letters, and stories in my notebooks and __________ myself to use Grandpa’s typewriter to write novels.__________, I planned to be a writer, and writers used typewriters.

The next summer, I’d hear the sounds of typewriter keys and walk toward them, admiring the __________ of the words forming on the page. I wished he would offer me a chance to try it. But he never did.

On returning home that year, I got a parcel. I found the typewriter in the box! My serious grandfather!