I was not very close to my father. He was a quiet man who _________ showed his love. As I grew older, however, his silence became an invisible wall between us. I was _________ that he didn’t love me.

I grew up, went to college far from home, worked hard and finally had a family of my own. My father and I talked often, _________ the talk was usually a prelude(前奏) to my longer conversations with my mother. There was a _________ of silence between us.

Then one day, a call from my mother told me my father had fallen down and was in _________ . I was unprepared for this diagnosis: He had Dementia with Lewy bodies(路易体痴呆).

I had read many _________ of Dementia with Lewy bodies, but my experience with the disease was _________: Because the disease transformed my father, it_________ the wall of silence between us.

It happened on the day when I _________ him with my five-year-old son, Jesse. The three of us sat on the bench, and my father watched __________ as I made small talk and my son played with me. His eyes widened as studied the obvious love I   __________ with my son.

Later in the day, my wife came and watched my son, __________ me to spend time alone with my father in his room. At first, there was the usual __________ between us. Then, to my __________ ,he began to speak.

“You know, I was __________ you and Jesse out there. Watching Jesse __________ me of the old days. It’s such a long time ago, but I have such a clear picture of that---of you---in my mind. You were a sweet little boy. My little boy”. He __________ and his eyes glistened(闪光)。

He__________ to me for causing pain. “I know I have a disease,” he murmured, “and that makes it__________ for me to think and remember.” “But you know,” he smiled again, “I am ________ that I have this disease. Because without it, I don’t think I would have been able to say this to you.”

He trapped his heart. “I love you.”

As usual, Lily bought expensive gifts for her children Alice and Peter before Christmas. Her job kept her busy, and she _________ got to see her children during weekdays. Being a mother, she always wanted to be _________ her children, but she placed her _________ first, thinking earning money was more important.

Lily _________ the gifts in secret and decided to give them a day before Christmas since she had to attend a business meeting the next day. _________, a day later, the meeting got canceled. Lily was _________ she could spend Christmas with her family. Therefore, she decided to _________ a party. Lily sent _________ to all her friends and her father-in-law, Michael. Lily was worried her friends would not feel _________ in the presence of aged people. Later that day, her children noticed the gifts she had bought. Unexpectedly, neither of them seemed __________ to open the gifts.

On Christmas Eve, Lily __________ her friends into her house. However, she felt __________ when she saw Michael walking in. On arrival, Michael gave Alice and Peter presents—some cookie molds (模具)! The two kids ran happily to their grandfather and showed great __________ for his gifts, asking him to bake cookies with them.

All the guests present were moved by the scene. Lily __________ all they want is their parents’ time and __________ not what their parents buy them.

Whenever I recall my childhood, there is one thing I remember clearly. My father used his_____to let my mother_____her parents who lived far away. There was just my younger brother and myself in the_____. One evening, our father came home and there was no_____, not even a piece of bread. My father had no money and he was as_____as we were. My brother and I went to bed without having anything.

___I knew from the expressions on my father’s face that he could not_____us be hungry for long. He left the house, and about two hours later he_____and woke us up. He had two small potato pies in his hands. I didn’t know where he got the money for the food but somehow he_____to find a way. It was clear that he wanted to get his children_____.

My father did not eat and had_____all day but he sat there and felt_____at seeing us eat. This has always stuck in my_____. At that moment, I felt moved knowing that he tried his best not to let us_____, and he wanted us to know he was always there ____________ us.

In_____times, I think, it is important not to_____weakness but strength._____the mother is the cement(黏合剂)that_____a family together, then the father is the steel that strengthens(加固) that cement.

It is his values and_____that have carried me forward and helped me deal with my own problems in life.