When I think about what my hero means to me, I realize that most of my special memories and feelings toward my hero come from the little things he does every day. My hero is not a celebrity or such a recognizable face. My hero is not a national hero or a multi – millionaire. He has never saved me from a burning castle or an avalanche（雪崩）, but he does ____ me and tell me to have a good day. He is just an ____, quiet man, whom I honor.

My dad is my hero because he is brave, skilled, and ____. I know many people say their dads are their heroes, but my dad teaches me about becoming a man, which is extremely important for a young boy.

Respect goes a long way with my dad, as does patience. As a(n) ____, my dad must deal with people every day, some of whom are nice and some are not. Either way, he ____ his well - mannered attitude.

Dad is not afraid of many things, or if he is, he doesn’t tell me ____ he wants to seem tough. He may not be a big guy but since he works with his ____ all day, he is very strong. Dad works outdoors in all kinds of ____ but the worst thing he has to do is ____ up and work in an attic (顶楼) in the middle of the summer. Trust me, this is the ____ place you will experience as an electrician and when you come back ____, what is in your lungs will make you ____ for hours.

My dad and I have a very good ____. We talk about almost everything. We go hunting, fishing, and everything a dad and son would do. My dad and I enjoy ____ most because it gives us time outdoors together and there is nothing like that. He has ____ and taught me everything I need to know about ____.

I am ____ to be the son of Mike C. , and would not have it any other way. People come up to me all the time to ____ me I have a good dad. It makes me feel ____ that a lot of people think so ____ of him. He is a good teacher of my life and would do anything for me. This is why my father is my hero.

“I wouldn’t buy that woman a Mother’s Day card, even if my life depended upon it,” said the woman standing by the card shelf at Wal-Mart. I looked up and saw a(n) __ of total disgust and disappointment.

Having been __ at a Florida orphanage (孤儿院) at age four, I never knew what it felt like to have a mother or a father. Never once had I received a hug or a kiss from my parents. That part of my life is a total __.

She looked up, saw me looking at her and __ angrily, “Just what are you looking at, you fool?”

“Sorry Ma’am. I never had a mother, and I was __ by your words.” I reached over and picked up a nice-looking __, opened it and began to read, “Thank you __ for being my mother.”

“Do you think your mother would like that card? Mine would, I think,” I said.

“Do you know what it is like to be yelled at for years, and __ be told that you are loved?” she asked.

“My mother didn’t ___me, let alone shout. She just took me to the orphanage and that’s where I stayed until I grew up,” I replied.

“Don’t you __ her?” she asked.

“Oh, I can’t. She’s my mother. Being a mother is a position to be __, even if she is not a very nice person,” I told her. The woman stood there __ her head.

I looked down at the floor and said, “I know your mother __ have done a lot of things that hurt you. It appears as if you hate her. But I can tell you this from my __ that disliking her, or even hating her, feels nowhere near as __ as never having known a mother at all—good or bad. At least, you feel __. For me, it’s all just a large blank of loneliness inside my heart, and that’s __ I’ll feel until I die.”

The woman stood there for several seconds. __, she reached out, took the card from my hand, smelled it, and placed it in her cart.

After she left, I ___ a nice card for my mother. I took it home, __it, and placed it with the other Mother and Father’s Days cards bought all these years, each marked “Address Unknown”.