Eleven years ago, the world I was familiar with ended. My _______ was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Over the course of seven months, Bill went from_______ me at tennis to needing my help to go to the bathroom.

It was the_______ time of my life. Maybe not_______. But it was certainly the time when I felt most alive. I _______ that a flat tire or the small complaints of a child with the sniffles (抽鼻子)_______ in comparison with the beauty of sudden laughter, the night sky, the _______ of a bakery. I found I could _______ myself to see more beauty.

In the days after Bill’s diagnosis and brain surgery, being his caregiver _______ me to find clinical trials and talk to different oncologists, which gave me a sense of________. In the later days, it meant being fully present for almost every moment. During his last weekend, a relative________ him. I noticed that she’d changed her appearance, and not in a good way. It was the kind of thought I’d ________ keep to myself. Just then, Bill ________ exactly what I’d been thinking, in that ruthlessly (鲁莽地) truthful way he had, and I found myself________ out loud.

“I could live with this man forever, even________ as much care as he does,” I thought. However, he would be dead in four________!

Eleven years later, I still try to be the ________   I became during those seven months. I try to be a little more ________ and generous, a little more grateful for the small __________ in life. It was my husband’s last, best __________ to me.

I’m a mother of three and a psychologist. Recently, I come to understand what makes childhood valuable in its own right.

One day, when I went to get my 7-year-old son from soccer ________, the kid ________ me with a downcast face. The coach had ________ him for not focusing on his soccer drills. He walked out of the school with his head and shoulders ________ down. He seemed wrapped in ________. But just before he reached the car door, he suddenly stopped, crouching (蹲伏) down to ________ something on the sidewalk. His ________ went down lower and lower, and then, with complete joy he called out, “Mum. Come here. This is the ________ bug (虫子) I’ve ever seen. It has, like a million ________. It’s amazing.” He looked up at me, his features overflowing with energy and ________. “Can’t we ________ here for just a minute? I want to find out what he does with all those legs.”

The traditional view of such a moment is that it is ________, or a waste of valuable time. Yet at that moment it suddenly dawned on me that what sets children apart from adults is not their ignorance (无知) but their ________ for joy. Children’s ability to become deeply ________ in something and get great pleasure is what adults spend the rest of their lives ________.

Early spring can be a tough time in the Midwest. It can take both people and animal by surprise with its ______   snowstorms.

Every spring, migratory(迁徙的) birds camp out in a large pond near my house on the way to their summer ______. This year, besides geese, scaups, a type of diving duck spent days hanging out ______ food. Then a snowstorm hit, followed by a very ______ night.

The next morning, I was shocked to see that all birds had ______ overnight—except one lone female, who was diving ______ and dynamically in the circle of open water. Her movement and body heat had kept the ______ from coming close as I watched her from the ______ of my warm house.

However, as the temperature dropped, the open water got smaller, and her movements slowed. I watched with ______ as she eventually stopped moving, fearing that she was dead.

And then it happened: Two more ducks appeared, ______ next to her still body. More ducks came and the circle of water came alive with their splashing and diving. Slowly, the circle of water ______ in size. Within minutes, the lone female was revived by her friends’ presence.

This little duck wouldn’t have ______ another night without her friends. She, ______, had kept that area of water open, so her friends had a place to stop and ______ themselves. Sometimes, a tiny action—even our mere ______—might brighten one’s day, and even save one’s life.