My mom, who was 95, lived in an assisted living care center in St. Paul, Minnesota. I drove up from Chicago one weekend for a_______ .

Her eyesight had grown_______ so she couldn’t read the newspapers. Her memory was___________. But her deep love for us, her four___________and her grandkids, and of life, still___________although not so brightly. I told Mom that her hands looked really_______and asked if she’d like someskin cream.

“Sure,” she said.

So I rubbed some Jergen’s lotion into her leathery palms and bent_______,which used to play the piano so_______. As I did this, she closed her eyes and_______ a deep sigh.

“That feels good,” she said.

That was the ________ conversation I had with my dear Mom________. She died two months later. So I’m ________now, on Mother’s Day, with this picture of her beautiful 95-year-old hands and all the ________ they carried.

Those are the hands that ________ me out of the baby bed when I was crying, and that rubbed my neck shoulders when I was an ________, pimply (长着粉刺的) teenager.

Those were the hands that ________ eggs and squeezed orange juice-all for me and my three brothers and my father. And those were the hands that ________me how to play the piano, in the hope I’d learn how to make music and know its impressive ________ and power.

All I know to say this Mother’s Day is the same ________ , inadequate phrase I used to say to her all the time and that I now hear our three kids say to my________, Carol.

“Thanks, Mom.”

About a decade ago, my seven-year-old daughter was in our car on her way to school. This particular day we drove _______ many homeless people who were asking for help. She asked why the same people were asking for help every day and why no one was _______.

I really did not have an _______ answer to this question. So I decided to ask her how she thought she could help.

This beautiful little girl had so many ideas _______ of her that I couldn’t keep up. There were a few good ideas flying past me just as the time did that morning. The next day on the morning trip to school my daughter asked me to stop at each corner where a homeless person stood. I asked why but was _______ informed to wait and see.

I _______ my window and asked the gentleman to come over. My daughter _______ him 50 cents and told him she would see him every morning. This _______ for 3 blocks. I asked her where all of the money came from and she quickly _______ me that her classmates took up a collection of ________ and coins for her to pass on to the “people on the corner”.

Every school day for 2 more wonderful years we stopped and offered ________ or a good morning wish to the “people on the ________”. She could always get everyone to smile ________ just for a quick second.

Times have changed, and many ________ giving money to homeless people on the corner but everyone ________ be acknowledged, so my “people on the corner” can get a “good morning” and a smile every day. I get the same in return – every day.

I used to be worried about what I should buy my dad for Father’s Day. I’d _________ countless stores for something that my dad would like. But I never had _________. That was years ago when I was _________ and thought every holiday was about _________.

Those years it was usually months after Father’s Day that my dad _________ a gift because he always told me he never “_________” anything. So I stopped getting him things and, _________, started taking him out to movies, to restaurants or to shows, which brought him much laughter.

We should _________ spending time with our fathers doing something they’ll _________. If he is fond of fishing, go fishing with him. Anything you can do to spend time with your father is better than anything you can __________ in a box and put a bow on, unless of course, you put yourself in a box, pop out and hand him tickets to a show or a game.

If, however, your mind is still set on getting a(n) __________ gift as well, then replace that thing that needs to be __________. That’s probably what I’m going to do next year for my father. Sorry, Dad, but this really will be the last summer your lawn mower can __________. If your dad is anything like mine, he’ll __________ until whatever needs to be replaced is __________ broken. And by that I mean it’s there-is-no-possible-way-it-can-be-fixed broken. So __________ it for him.

Many people may no longer have a(n) __________ with their dad. So for those who are lucky like me, it’s a __________ to take our dads for granted. The times we can laugh sure __________ the times we can’t. Now, do something with your dad to make him happy. __________ the materialistic gifts. Bring on the laughs.