My grandchild, Harold, was going to celebrate his 7th birthday. And he said he wanted some fudge (软糖) made by me as a gift.

About twenty years ago, there was a candy-making ______ in my hometown. The winners could get a year’s free sweets from candy companies. That couldn’t be more ______ to me, so I learned to make fudge at home. I tried a dozen times, ______ with little success. I ______ that maybe I wasn’t cut out for this, so I ______ . Harold remembered me telling of the ______ . Before I could explain, he went away with the ______ that I could make delicious fudge. Since he wanted in badly, I decided to try again.

I followed the recipe ______ , afraid that I could go ______ . Finally, I made it to the last step, which said I should “stir the cooked mixture until it doesn’t look shiny”. Well, the ______ didn’t tell me exactly when I should stop stirring. So I just followed my inner voice and stopped stirring at a certain moment. Then I put it aside to let it harden, ______ it would turn out fine. After a while. I went to ______ it, ready for another failure. Then something ______ happened- the fudge hardened to a perfect degree!

The success resulted greatly from my hidden knowledge, which I gained from many times of ______ . I started to realize that if you set your mind on ______ something, you will give your best and finally make it.

Lara Harrison has always had a complicated relationship with her father.

Several times, Harrison felt she'd reached her breaking point and ________ her dad for months.

Still, she couldn't ________ him. Small actions showed he cared ________ he remained difficult to get close to: he went out of his way to ________ with tasks such as repairing her office. Harrison wanted the relationship to improve.

As her father reached his 70s, she realized that if they were going to re-establish ________ , they could not waste time. She made a conscious decision to change her ________ to him. If he was being moody during their time together, she'd end their interaction by thanking him for the visit and giving him a hug -- something that wasn't typical for them. The small interventions(干预） ________ ; he became kinder each visit, and his moods became ________ . Eventually he began reaching out to her, texting to ask, “How are you?” or saying he was proud of her, something she'd always longed to hear.

Rebuilding trust with her father ultimately helped her to engage in ________ . She realized she could also be stubborn when she felt ________ , and that her negative connection to her father made her less trusting of other people in her life. “I never allowed myself to dive deeply into relationships.

At the first sight of a challenge, I would blame others, get angry or leave. The effort it takes to be constantly ________ is exhausting,” she says. “It ________ you of life's happy moments.” Today, she's thankful to be able to approach others more ________ and with an open heart.

Trust is one of the most important elements of a safe, fulfilling and well-functioning relationship. ________ , it often isn't until something hurtful happens -- a spouse cheats on you; a boss makes fun of you in front of colleagues -- ________ we think about trust; we don't notice it until it's broken.