One day last summer, my 9-year-old son Ben and I were riding the waves at a popular ocean beach on outer Cape Cod. As we were playing happily with our surfboard, I suddenly noticed an astonishing _________—some whales were spouting (喷水) well within view of where we _________.

We stared and pointed in _________. “Ben, can you believe it?” I cried. “We’re swimming with the whales!” “Mom,” Ben said in reply, “we’re _________ swimming with the whales. This is their habitat, not ours!”

Ben’s words took my breath away, more than the dramatic waves and the amazing sight of the _________.

He was absolutely _________, of course. These whales live in the waters off Cape Cod. This is their _________—one that we visit, love and protect. So when we set foot into a _________ space, it’s meaningful and important to _________ that we are visiting something that is beautiful and enjoyable to us, but is not __________ for us.

We each have a part to play in __________ space. When we acknowledge our coexistence, as Ben __________, we set ourselves up for success in how we interact with each other. This is as __________ in the vastness of the ocean as it is in our __________ where we live, work, play and serve.

How we __________ and support each other in this vast ocean of life—that’s up to us.

Milu is also known as Pere David’s deer. They are herd animals (群体动物) that usually ________ from humans, but when Diandian comes into contact with people at a nature ________ in Yueyang, Hunan province, she is ________.

Eight years ago, one-week-old Diandian was left behind by her ________. When people found her in the reeds of a lake, she looked too weak and thin to ________.

________ by keepers at the East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve, Diandian ________ started treating people as her friends. Today, she is the mother of three milu, thanks to the ________ and care shown to her by ________ members at the reserve. “Most milu run away ________ someone approaches, but Diandian is deliberate (从容的) in her ________ and unhurried,” said Li Zheng, a keeper at the reserve who has taken care of Diandian for years.

With the help of people like Li Zheng from a milu ________ association in Yueyang, 11 deer, including Diandian, have their families. The staff have done many things to help protect and expand the ________ of the animal. Each member has a ________ research role, with some flying drones (无人机), some ________ the number of milu and some estimating the age of the male ________ the shape and size of their antlers (鹿角).

Thanks to their efforts, the past several years have ________ the gradual ________ of the milu population. Once ________ in China, its native land, and with only 18 ________ surviving in the world, the milu deer is now prospering in its home country.

Everything I know about love I’ve learned from my dogs. But everything I know about _______ I’ve learned from them, too. They fill our _______. And then, in what seems like no time, they’re gone.

It reminds me what people say about childbirth: if you really _______ how difficult it was, you’d never _______ it again. And yet, dog after dog, I’ve forgotten the _______ of losing them—until they give me that look with their _______ faces. You promised, Jenny.

The pain of loss doesn’t seem to be _______ at all by the fact that some of my dogs have been terrible. My first dog, for instance, was a(n) _______ Dalmatian (斑点狗）named Playboy.

We lived on the farm then, and Playboy led a carefree life, _______ donkeys and cows or even stealing Christmas turkeys. My sister and I disliked him, and we were fairly sure the ________ was mutual (互相的).

________ he was devoted to my father. Every afternoon, when Dad returned home and sat down, Playboy would lie down at his side and ________ around until his paws (爪）were in the air. Dad would rub the dog’s belly. “Who’s a good boy?” ________ would ask.

It was a good ________.

What did I learn about love from Playboy? That it is ________ if everyone dislikes you, as long as you are deeply loved by one person.