Kindness can really make you pause and be thankful during a stressful time.

Cassandra Warren was in a____and was feeling a little overwhelmed(使应接不暇)by work and planning her wedding. After she got her____invitations ready one day she hurriedly____one to her aunt and uncle. A week later, the invitation came back. She had written down the____address. A handwritten note was____to the returned envelop, which read, “I wish I____you-this is going to be an enjoyable experience. Congratulations- go to have dinner on me.” A $ 20 bill was inside.

Cassandra was at a bit of a professional crossroads and had been having a____day. In fact, she’d nearly broken down, telling her____to her husband-to-be Jesse Jones just as she____the misdirected envelop. Then she read the note. “It was kind of perfect timing, ” said Cassandra Warren. “We are____of who the mysterious(神秘的)note writer is．But I really____it．”

Cassandra and Jesse ____ with a friend who was going overseas the following night. They happily put the $ 20 towards their___. Then Cassandra bought a thank-you card. She____wrote her aunt’s address on the envelop again this time ____ and addressed it to “Kind Stranger”___by the following words inside, “Thank you for the____and taking time to____it.   Not so many people would have done that. It was a big____after the day I was having. I am___ for people like you still being in the world. ”

Eleven years ago, it seemed as if the world came to an end. My husband of 19 years, the father of my two sons, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Over the_______of seven months, Bill went from_______easily at tennis to needing my help to go to the bathroom.

It was the best seven months of my life. Maybe I don't actually_______ that. But it was certainly the time when I felt most_______. During those seven months, I came to_______that whatever else I did in my life, nothing would_______ more than taking care of my husband. I discovered that the minor complaint of an annoying coworker, or a flat tire pales in _______with the beauty of sincere laughter, the_______of a bakery. There were moments of _______ laughter, and tenderness in every day. I found I could train myself to see beauty____________bother.

In the days after Bill's diagnosis and brain surgery, being his caregiver also meant being fully____________ as much as possible. During his last weekend, when we had dinner together a relative visited. I ____________that she'd changed her appearance, and not in a good way. It was the kind of____________ I'd usually keep to ____________. Just then, Bill voiced ____________ what I’d been thinking, in that truthful way he had, and I found myself ____________out loud. I thought I could       live with this man forever, but he____________   in four days.

Eleven years later, I haven't made much achievements. ____________every day, I try to be the person I became during those seven months. I try to be a little less judgmental, a little more generous, a little more ____________ for the small moments in life.

I am a better person for having been Bill's caregiver. It was his last, best ____________ to me.

Recently Steve had a car accident. So he put his car in the garage to have it________. Since he had to work daily, he took the subway________. One night, he saw a(n)________man at the subway station. Out of ________, he gave him some change.

Next day again, he ________ the homeless man at the same place. This time Steve ________ to get him something to eat, so he went outside the ________ and brought him a meal. The homeless man thanked him for his ________. But Steve got curious and asked him, “How did you get to this point?”

“By showing love.” Steve didn’t ________ it, asking “What do you mean by that?” The homeless man replied, “Whatever was going right or wrong in my life, I ________helped everyone.”

“Do you regret(后悔) it?” asked Steve. The man replied, “No, it just allowed me to ________that the very people I ________my shirt to wouldn’t give a sleeve(袖子) of that same shirt when I was in________. Young man, it’s better to build your own house and invite someone in for ________than to hand them your bricks while you’re ________ yours.”

Steve understood his ________and gave him a big hug (拥抱).

Helping others is not a ________ thing at all. But sometimes, while we’re helping others, we ________our own problems and needs. One must remember sometimes sharing is better than ________. You can do a lot more by being in a ________position instead of bringing yourself into a weak situation.