I sat down at my desk and started writing a letter of thankfulness, but when it came to actually putting the letter into the mailbox, I ________ I couldn’t do it. I suddenly felt a sense of ________ and insecurity (不安).

The letter was to an old teacher with whom I kept in ________ on Facebook. For months, I read about what she ________ on her Facebook page, which helped me to live my life differently. Her volunteer work wasn’t huge. ________, she was doing small, local good deeds. Gradually, she changed my views on the world and for some reason, I felt I should let her know how her example ________ influenced me.

I could have easily sent her an email, but that seemed not enough for such an important thank-you. That’s why I ended up ________ the letter. But now here I was, standing before the mailbox, unable to put the envelope inside. What was stopping me? It suddenly hit me that I was ________ of being too nice. I guessed I felt strange because it wasn’t like she was my best friend or a relative. Maybe my letter was too heartfelt. Thinking this over, I put the envelope in the mailbox ________.

Weeks later I received a Facebook response from her. It turned out she was going through a hard time and my note ________ a lot to her. She said she had no idea that she was playing such a big ________ in others’ life.

Not only did this letter make her happier, but her ________ increased my joy as well. I was so excited that it had such a great influence on her that I decided to write a(n) ________ letter to someone each month. Now it’s easier for me to ________ the goodness in others and be more ________ for this beautiful life I’m living.

I was in France to visit my grandmother. To make her know how I ________ her, I cooked for her, and read her stories. I gave her a foot massage, ________ was her first ever.

Before leaving, I was ________ a way to leave something meaningful. So I wrote her five different love notes to let her know how much she ________ to me, and hid them in different places where I knew she would ________ find them. One was on her pillow. Another one was beside the lamp by which she reads in the ________. Another one was beside her toothbrush. One was in her ________ she eagerly checks every day. And the last one was on her car’s steering wheel.

I left with joy, ________ that these cards would surely cheer her up after I left. She ________ me as I was on my way to the airport and said, “I found your three cars. By the time I ________ the third, I was laughing out loud. They did me so much ________. Thank you so much.” I smiled to ________, knowing she still had two more to go. It was Sunday, so my ________ was that she hadn’t ________ her mailbox and hadn’t yet driven her car.

As I was sitting on the plane back to the United States, I ________ that one of my friends’ guiding principles was to ________ everyone like our family member. So I was thinking about ________ to practise that in different settings, including on a plane ride. I decided that on my next ________ I would bring and write five appreciation cards for ________ people on the plane, including the pilot who probably doesn’t get ________ enough for taking us safely to our destination.

When I was little, my mom put her love into making traditional Chinese soups for me. I’m talking Ching bo leung (清凉补), with a lot of herbal(中草药的) ingredients that give the soup a _______ taste.

As a kid, I never _______ drinking them because the taste made me sick. But my mom would try her best to _______ me to drink her soup.

First, she would state all the health benefits that the soup has.

“How can this strange water improve my _______?” I’d roll my eyes.

Then, she’d tell me it tasted _______ this time because she added chicken to make it taste more restaurant-style.

Lastly, she’d bribe (贿赂) me with a piece of candy.

And somehow that would _______. I’d take a deep breath and drink it without stopping. After I finished, my mom would _______ eating the Chinese soup ingredients (Tang Zha in Chinese).

I _______ why she did this. I could just _______ the soup but how could she eat the soup ingredients?

She’d always say, “I ________ eating them.”

When I was young, I ________ believed her.

But as I got older, I ________ she was only saying this because she wanted the best for her daughter.

Recently, I recalled (回忆起) this ________ while feeding my daughter a mango (芒果). I cut the mango into two halves and then ________ the seed (果核).

My daughter was ________ and asked me why I ate the seed.

I told her, “Because I love eating them.”