Many years ago, when we first went to Canada, we were driving through Montana to Colorado with our two children, then aged 8 and 11. As it was getting _________, we started looking for a hotel, only to find out that it was holiday time in that part of the country, and that all the hotels were _________.

Finally, around 9 o'clock in the evening, we_________ at a gas station to fill up with gas. My husband asked for a _________ book and told the woman at the counter that we were trying to find a hotel. She told us it would be_________. He tried for 15 more minutes. When he was unsuccessful, the woman, Linda, said she and her family _________nearby and would be happy if we spent the night at her home.

My husband was_________at her offer of generosity (慷慨). She called her son to direct us, since she had to _________at the gas station till midnight.

When we reached their home, her husband _________us. He invited us to have coffee and chat while we waited for his wife. She came past 12 am. We asked if we could leave quietly in the morning so as not to __________ them. They said we were now __________and we would have to have breakfast with them.

Next morning, we ate breakfast, and when we were __________, my husband asked if he could offer some __________. They would not hear of it and __________ we were their guests. We kept in touch for many years, and invited them to our __________, too. Over the years, we lost touch, but have never forgotten their kindness.

Being an orphan is usually difficult; however, being an animal orphan can be deadly.

This season, the Volunteers for Wildlife rehabilitation(康复)center in Locust Valley ______ six young red-tailed hawks. If we can get these birds ______ with their parents, they will stand a better chance of surviving. ______ , sometimes we cannot find the nests, which have been ______ , or the parents have been killed by cars or poison ______ for rats.

But there is another tool for wildlife rehabilitators: foster(寄养的)parenting. We try to ______ the orphans with other adult pairs before nesting season ends in early July.

Not all birds will ______ chicks that are not their own, so we pay close attention to the research by experts ______ moving youngsters. It’s not always easy. Hawk nests are often 40 or 50 feet high in trees and   ______ .

______ , for this season’s chicks, I knew of a nest that was still active at Bethpage State Park. There was one chick in the ______ . The young bird was nearly ready to fly, but was still in the nest and being ______ .We decided to try to ______ one of our orphan birds. I drove the bucket truck to the nest tree; Lauren, my colleague, grabbed our youngster. And up we three went in the bucket. The wild parents were still in the area, and the adult female hawk could be ______ , so we worked fast.

I came by later in the day and the next morning to ______ the adults had accepted their new child. They had! The chick had a full crop(food storage area in the throat)and the adult female hawk sat nearby, ______ me closely .

The results were so ______ and we tried it again! A week later, we placed another young on a branch in the ______ tree. The adult hawks now had three youngsters to ______ , one theirs and two foster chicks. It was ______ to know that we had a part in it.

When I was a boy growing up I cannot once ever remember either my mom or my grandmother wasting food. Anything we didn’t eat at one meal was __________, stored, and served as leftovers later on. I can remember my grandmother making a huge pot of brown beans with a large cake of cornbread. We would all eat until we were _________ but there was always about half of the beans __________. A few days later Grandmother would take those _________ out of the refrigerator, boil pasta, add parsley and __________ them all together into her delicious Pasta Fasule(意大利面食). And I also remember when I __________ my mom fry bacon for us in the mornings, she would always take the butter and carefully pour it into a container. Then she later would _________ it to flavor up (调味) so many other dishes.

I learned their _________ well and after I grew up I tried to never waste food myself. I always __________ the week’s meals ahead of time and only bought what was on my shopping __________ so nothing went to waste. Every meal went into our stomachs and any leftovers were later eaten by either myself, my boys, or my dogs. To me throwing food in the trash was just __________. All the work it took to grow it, harvest it, and prepare it needed to be __________ and not wasted.

I learned something else over the years, however: When it comes to __________ there are no leftovers. Each moment that you don’t live is __________ forever. Life cannot be saved. Life cannot be __________. Life has to be lived, TODAY!