I recently lost one of my favourite rings and was upset.

Even though it was cheap and could be easily ____, it had a lot of ____ value to me. I had ____ it for two weeks before losing my hope and planning to buy a new one.

When I was on my way to the ____ and was checking for my wallet inside of my backpack, I felt the ring at the bottom of my bag. I was more than happy — and the first person I called was my father. He told me he was happy because I was happy that I’d found it. I had been telling him about all of the special memories I had ____ the ring and he knew how sad I was when I thought I lost it. Whenever I have good news, the first people I want to share it with are my ____.

I’m 23, and I have been calling my parents every day since I started university in 2018 — sometimes more than once. It started because I was ____ . I initially (最初) had a really hard time making friends and sometimes wouldn’t talk to anybody for days.

Ringing my parents became a ____ and a way for me to feel ____ to them. I love them. Some people might think that it’s ____ at my age, or child-like — but I’ve never felt a need or desire to ____ talking to them every day just because we don’t live in the same house anymore. I ____ that I call my parents sometimes for support and relief, but I think it’s natural for humans to seek support from others, especially from those they’re ____ to.

____ I’ve never quite understood why people think the ‘mark of independence’ consists of not speaking to your family on a regular basis. I think people can still be independent and seek emotional support from their family. It’s not a sign of ____.

When we moved from California to Colorado, 1,200 miles away from our parents, my husband and I decided that we did not want to travel a long way with our four______for Christmas. However, one late October day, I had a phone conversation with my mother-in-law.

“When are you ____?” she asked.

I did not know how to ______，and changed the subject. When she asked again later in the ____一 “ When are you coming?” 一I knew that we would ____our plan and not stay in our own home for Christmas.

The thought of not being in our own home caused me to be____. What would Christmas away from home look like? Would we be ____ the magic of Christmas by not being in our own home? It would be the first time our children would spend __ away from our own home. “How would you like to give ___the best Christmas present ever? We can do that____giving them the gift of our presence,” we told our kids. They all agreed we should go and so the trip to California was __.

My husband's large family always kept Christmas very ___. They only attached great importance____the special meal together. My in-laws' faces____with joy when our family arrived. Christmas Eve was filled with ____, as played games and sang our favorite songs.

Sadly, my mother-in-law's dementia(老年痴呆）became worse. I was ___that we had made an excepton and ___that Christmas together. I didn’t know it at that time，____it was the last Christmas with my mother-in-law.

The gift of being ___with her that year was the best gift I have ever ___and received.

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. The other woman that my wife wanted me to dine and go to the cinema together was my mother,who had been a _______ for 19 years, but the_________of my work and my three children made it possible to visit her only _______．

That Friday afternoon, I drove over to_______ my mother. She waited with her dress _______ the dress she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as _______ as an angel’s.

After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entrees(主菜), I _______ my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A warm smile was on her lips. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were _______”she said. During the dinner, we had a(n) _______conversation—nothing ________ but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the movie.

A few days later, my mother ________ a heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her.

Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a ________ from the same restaurant mother and I had dined. A(n) ________ note was also in the envelope, ________：“I paid this bill ________. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates—one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.”