My dad had been my hero while I was growing up. He had worked so hard all his life to ______ the whole family. He sometimes had a bad feeling that made him sometimes ______ me and my brothers, but he sometimes had a good ______. He shared something happy with us and showed us gentle laugh ______. Anyway, always knew that he loved me. Still, my father had been ______ in an old fashioned way and raised us in that ______ too. Therefore, I couldn't remember ever being hugged (拥抱) by my ______.

After my mom passed away, my father moved close to where I ______. I was so happy to have him close by. We often talked about life, but we still hardly, ______ and never hugged. Finally his health began to fail ______ and a few months later, brain cancer had taken him from us. I nearly couldn't breathe because of ______ and depression (沮丧). It was a cold morning and I was thinking I wouldn’t have gained just the _____ hug from him.

One day, I was standing by the window when suddenly my son opened his ______ and gave me a huge heart-felt hug. And just as he did, I heard my father's ______ deep inside of me say, “Joey, this hug is from me!” I ______ and the tears welled up in my eyes. At that moment, in the place where heart, mind, and spirit all met, I felt the love. I felt I had been ______ by my father. I still had a lot of things left to do and a lot of love ______ to share.

Life can seem very ______ but in truth it is very short. Never ______an opportunity to show your love. And always keep your heart and your arms ______ for a hug!

Whenever something upsetting happened to me during my teen years, my mother always said,“Get a good night’s sleep. Things will look better in the morning.”

Mother repeated her words when, in my early twenties, I was _______ by the library school I had set all my hopes on." What _______ advice!" I thought. How was sleeping going to make my _______ go away?

That night, I _______ myself to sleep. The next morning, I called a more _______ school and asked for an application. Having failed to get into the first school, I figured I had nothing to_______ by applying to the better one. The better school _______ me.

My mother died the year after I received my graduate degree. Then, I got a library job I loved._______ I threw myself into my career 150 percent, my boss _______ me from the day I was hired. One evening I came home ill. I just couldn’t take the ________ anymore. I was in ________ and frustration. That night, as I cried myself to sleep, I________ my mother’s words — more for comfort than for insight.

The next morning I woke realizing I had other ________. That day, I gave up the job and worked as a teacher in elementary schools. My career as a children’s librarian sparked my ________ in writing picture books. ________, without the pressure of my former job, story ideas popped out at me from every direction. I’ve________ my stories to children’s magazines. I have two books awaiting publication, and I continue to write.

After so many years I have finally come to understand the ________ of my mother’s words. Sleep doesn’t make problems ________, but it does help emotions settle. Sleep gives the subconscious (潜意识的) mind time to ________ possible ways to solve problems. I now repeat my mother’s ________ to myself whenever I face new challenges.

Today, I’m sending Sally away for a week of summer camp. She never actually asked to go. This was all my ________. She’s nearly 12, and I noticed that I’m with my child nearly 24 hours a day.

Living on a farm without any neighbors, I’ve chosen a life that is quieter than a________family’s. But rather than longing for________away from me, Sally has become increasingly dependent on my________. What________me most is that she has become a “mini-me”. She________my hobbies, my dreams, and my opinions. And that’s________I pulled her to the summer camp: a nearby wilderness camp called Hawk Circle.

After we eat, I drive Sally to Hawk Circle. Once there, we get a tour of the grounds and are introduced to Sally’s fellow________. Sally stands by the group of children, holding my hand, tears in her eyes, trying to work up the________to join a game of soccer. “I need you for a few more minutes,” she tells me, holding my hand________. I walk up to one of the camp’s workers. “Excuse me,” I say loudly，“I’d like to________my daughter. Maybe you could help her ________a few of these kids.” He comes over to talk to Sally, and I kiss on her cheek and then I________before she realizes I’m gone.

It’s not until that drive home that I finally feel it. I begin to________. The tears stream down my face. It takes every bit of my________to keep driving forward. When I arrive home, I calm down and remind myself why I chose this________. I want Sally to have a chance to find herself, out of my_________ I don’t want to see only myself in my child. I want to learn who she is. If I don’t set her________, I fear I’ll never really meet her real________. After 12 years of________being together, I want to finally meet my daughter for the first time.