My father was a music teacher who traveled to farm homes or homes in smaller communities to teach his students. He was never at home in the ___ because he left around 1:00 each afternoon to start ___ and would return around 11:00 p. m. long after everyone, except my mother, was ___. Mom, on the other hand, was the ruler of the home ___ everything went well. She had to ___ my brother and me, cook meals, and wash clothes. Mother was a strict taskmaster ___ that we all obey the rules without any ___. When we didn’t, there were always ___ punishments(惩罚).

One day I got myself into trouble. ___ dealing with the situation, my mother told me that my father would come to punish me. I thought this was no ____ since I would be ____ long before my father got home. ____, he wouldn’t wake me up to punish me.

The next morning, I ____ thinking all was well. However, my father called me into the playroom. He told me to ____ beside him in a wooden chair and then said how ____ he was in me. I was told that I would not be ____ to play with any of my toys for two days.

I always remember that ____ even after all these years have gone by. The reason I remember it so well is that it taught me a lot. I came to ____ that you won’t ____ the punishment no matter how much you don’t want it, or how much you bury your ____ in the sand and think that it will just go away like a bad dream.

It was decades before I traveled solo for the first time in my life. This trip to Colorado was the first trip that was not for business or family reasons but just to travel and ________.

As I prepared for it, I felt excited and ________ at the same time. Would it be fun? Would I be bored? Would I stay in bed all day or would I be full of excitement to do the next thing? I wasn't ________. Little did I know that it was going to be a ________ journey of self-discovery.

As a good wife and mom, for me, travel is always about the ________; always thinking of who would ________ what. It's about family time and bonding. But on a(n) ________ trip who would I connect with? What would I do? Well, I found that I got to do anything I ________!

I met locals while traveling and also other ________. Honestly, I had conversations ________— on planes, while hiking, in restaurants, in the hotel lobby(大厅).

It was quite a(n) ________ experience to meet a mom of 18 kids and hundreds of foster (寄养的) kids, a cookie baker, and an internationally ranked marathon(马拉松) runner. The inspiring stories I discovered were ________ and nothing was like my wonderful ________ life at home. I got to go rock climbing, go hiking solo, and eat ________ . And it was all ________. Actually, it felt surprisingly ________.

It was just me, my SUV and my backpack for a week. ________ it was a breath of fresh air that I didn’t ________ existed. It's wonderful to be back home and know that possibilities are ________ and there is so much more out there to ________ and be impressed and surprised by!

In order to work on a documentary about Paralympians and the physically sound guides by their sides, one guide in particular brings me to the Elite Athletic Training Center today. The ________ name is Wesley Williams, and he's ________ to talk to me. Wesley had his own remarkable track and field career. However, ageing out as an ________ athlete comes early, and that could have been the end of his life in athletics. But then a friend, with stories of ________, came back from being a guide runner in the Paralympics in Athens in 2004, which inspired Williams to ________ to be a guide and spent his first season supporting countless ________ impaired athletes over the finish line, over the bar, and into the sand pit. Wesley says he^’s never been so ________ in his life.

For the past 14 years, he has been long jumper Lex Gillette's eyes, guiding him to ________ medals and a couple of world championship titles. On ________ day, Wesley's job is to stand at the end of the runway and do what he can — scream, ________ ——so Lex can accurately ________ his position on the track. Then, Lex aims at pace in the ________ , runs and jumps — the world record is 6. 7 meters.

In 2012, Wesley ________ his first medal for his devotion. It wasn't the first time he'd led Lex to the podium , but London was the first Games that________the work of the guide ________ the athlete. Wesley is at the track with Lex five days per week, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., ________ .   After hours, they make music together, and they laugh at the same _________ .     All that they enjoy is more than a working ________ They both talk a lot about ________ What they did meant more than any medal achievement. They made a blind man see, and ________     farther than anyone ever imagined.