Dad was not only my best friend, but my compass. While he was alive, he _________ me with his actions and advice. He taught me one important _________:" Believe in yourself. ” If there was one phrase my dad _________ liked to hear, it was "I can’t!" He never got to finish high school and _________ two jobs to support his large family, _________ he never complained. Through education and years of hard work, my dad became an excellent journalist.

When I was in high school, I had a _________ time with maths. He tried to help me, but I _________ struggled. So my maths teacher suggested I meet with him at 7 : 00 each morning before school for extra_________ . I told Dad, "That’s _________! I’m tired! I can’t do that!” He replied,“You’re doing it. I’ll send you to school.” Every morning at 6:45,we’d leave the __________. Despite working 12 hours every day, Dad never once __________ driving me to school.

After months of __________ I was facing the final exam. I was so __________. On the day of the final, my dad hugged me and said, "Luke, __________ yourself. You can do it. ” His words made me realize I needed to trust in my __________ and in the hours of work I’d __________. When I got my __________ proudly, the first person I called was my father. He cried, “Yes! You deserve it!" Even now, whenever I __________ that a task is too much for me, I think back to that exam. No matter how __________ something is, if you're willing to work, you can succeed. I'm forever __________ to Dad for that lesson.

The flowers are blooming and the birds are singing as Melinda sits in the rose garden of the nursing home. She is _______ old times as she waits for her family’s arrival. The nursing home has been Melinda’s new _______ ever since Thomas passed away a week ago. Thomas had _______ a long and hard battle against lung cancer for three years. Unfortunately, he has broken the _______ that he and Melinda had made: to be with each other for every _______. Melinda knew this was _______ but agreed to the promise for Thomas’s sake.

“Thomas, you are completely a dreamer.” Melinda shouted to Thomas _______ he dreamed on about living on an island with his beautiful wife. That’s what she loved about him most—he had a vivid _______. They got married at age eighteen and began having children right away. Mary came within the year, _______ by Thomas Benjamin II, Lilly-Ann, and Joseph “Little Joey” George. The family lived a ________ life filled with laughter and love.

“Mom!” Lilly shouted, but it really sounded like a howl. Melinda had ________ herself in thinking about the life she had shared with her ________ husband. Lilly pushed her ________ the long dark halls of the nursing home until they arrived at the recreational room.

When the doors opened, Melinda put her hand over her mouth and was completely ________. The room was crowded with the people nearest and ________ to her and the warmth and love was felt ________. The night went on; stories and cocktails(鸡尾酒) were ________ and everything was ________.

However, when Melinda caught a moment to herself she looked around at her ________ . With a smile on her face, she raised her glass and called out for a ________. “This one is for you, Thomas, though you are not here.”

Four months earlier, I woke one morning with blinding back pain. A quick Google search ________ a kidney infection. I went for a checkup and was told I had to have a donor who was a ________ match.

My life depended on ________ my brother, Johnny. A(n) ________ mother and an alcoholic father created an extremely unpleasant ________ for both of us. After high school, Johnny moved out. We communicated infrequently. I encouraged him to give up the job carrying the ________ of prison. But he believed I judged him ________. That was our last ________, 30 years ago.

I knew I needed to stay ________, but a part of me felt a glimmer of hope. My friend Anne knew all of this ________ family history and was at my door the next morning to ________ over some print-outs. I would be the one to make the ________.

I dialed the first number... and the second.... I did the same for almost every number — same ________ I went to bed thinking we’d ________ a dead end. The next day, I got up my ________ and looked over the list again. The lone number on the last page ________ out at me from the whiteness. I dialed, just to be done with it. The phone rang and rang. No ________.

Just one more time, ________ told me. I redialed.

“Hello!” It was my Johnny. My palms were damp when I explained why I’d called. Johnny didn’t ________ before agreeing to help. The hospital sent him a testing kit. My brother was a(n) ________!