I was five foot ten and weighed between 340 and 360 pounds; the exact number depended on whether you took my weight before or after one of my big meals. I knew that I needed to ______.

“At every ______, just make sure that at least half your plate is full of fruits and ______.” And my doctor suggested I start with 20 minutes of easy exercise twice a day. “Something you can enjoy, like taking a walk. And I suggest that you go to ______ a dog.”

“A dog is a good partner,” she said. “Plus, you live in an apartment, which means the dog has to be walked. So you walk your dog twice a day, and that will be your ______.”

“I’ve never owned a dog. What about a cat?” I asked.

“Have you ever seen anyone ______ a cat?”

My friend Casaundra said she had the ______ dog for me. There he was: a large black-and-white dog with a big round body. He looked up at me and then ______ his head with a clear look of ______. Like, Really? This loser? I suppose I looked at him the same way.

I named him Peety, and we took it ______, just as my doctor had suggested. Peety weighed 75 pounds when a healthy ______ for him was more like 50 pounds. But on our first walk together, Peety took the lead. We made it halfway down the ______ and then came back. Luckily for me, he didn’t walk very fast. You could ______ hear my footsteps on the sidewalk as I ______ each leg forward—thump, thump, thump, like the giant from “Jack and the Bean Stalk.” The next day we made it to the ______ of the block. Soon he would ______ me around the block.

Over the next weeks, Peety kept ______ harder and harder on the leash(束缚). There were times when I couldn’t ______, even though I’d dropped five pounds a week ______ I started the plant-based eating and walking.

We walked together for nearly five years, until Peety died of cancer. He’d come into my life, and simply by being here, he ______ me. And in that moment, I felt like the two of us could have done anything.

Picking up a free newspaper at the Tube station, I see the title “Hot! Hot! Hot!”. Today, the temperature in London is ______ to reach 30 plus degrees! The average high temperature in July is only 22 degrees, so over 30 is unusual for London. It’s going to be ______ on the Central Line, with no air conditioning.

Sure enough, going down the stairs and onto the ______ is like jumping into a volcano that’s erupting. This, _____, is nothing compared to the train. Because there’s no air conditioning, the temperature ______ the train can reach 35 degrees! It’s lovely at the beach, but not so when you’re wearing a suit and in a ______ of passengers! I’m sure the passenger next to me and I are ______ and becoming one!

Yes, each summer in London ______ seems hotter than the last. I suddenly feel a bit ______. Perhaps now is the time to start planning for the future? I should probably ______ my flat on the market and buy a boat.... Most importantly, I’ll need to learn to swim! I’ll join a beginner’s swimming class ______. Then I’ll be able to ______ even when the tall buildings are flooded.

______ my newspaper, I’m shocked by photos showing that a hurricane in Asia has destroyed a town. Experts say this bad weather has occurred due to ______ change. News like this makes me feel nervous. ______ it’s hard to avoid a disaster on Earth, perhaps I should start thinking about moving to space...

A few months ago, I felt pain in my stomach and went to every expert to find out why. Some physician’s assistant called me to tell me that I had stage IV cancer, and that I was going to need to come to the hospital ________. And all I could think of ________ was, “But I have a son. I can’t end.” And then I called my husband, and he ________ to find me and put himself in my shoes.

As I began the walk to the hospital, it ________ my mind for the first time, “Oh. How ironic(讽刺的).” I had just ________ a book called “Blessed.” I am an expert in the ________ that good things ________ good people. If you’re good, good things will always ________ you. I spent a decade talking to patients and talked with people in hospital waiting rooms. I held hands with people in wheelchairs, ________to be cured.

But when I got my ________, it was a mindset that served me well until it didn’t, until I was ________ with something I couldn’t manage my way out of; ________ I found myself saying into the phone, “But I have a son,” because it was all I could think of to say.

Today, I am doing quite well. The drugs appear to be ________, and we are watching and waiting with scans. I hope I will live a long time. I hope I will live long enough to ________ my son and to watch my husband ________ his beautiful hair. And I think I might.