I’m glad I got sick

Twenty-seven years ago I got sick. The reason I can remember the date so well is that being sick is What___________ me to choose my future wife. She was just a good friend, but because she _______to my apartment, brought me medicine, and made me breakfast, I thought for the first time “what a super wife she will _______for someone”

I took her out to eat for helping me get _______the flu. After that we became even better friends, but still_______thought of marriage. A few months later I was going to_______a new job in the Atlanta area, so Cathy helped me_______up boxes to get ready to leave. We_______great time that day and had lunch together. Near the end of that day I_______a few tears in Cathy’s eyes, so I asked what was ________

She said, “ I don’t know if I can live________you. You are my best friend.” I said. “ I know. I’ve been thinking of the ________thing.” That day we decided to get married and we have been married ever since. We have had our ________times, as many others have had, but we are still best friends!

________I get to the family unit in my Health class and we talk about ________. I always tell this story. My students seem to love it because they learn that ________, sharing and caring about others is all that really ________

________the way, my wife is 12 years younger than me, and she is beautiful. We have two beautiful children, but we still have dates ________weekend.

Cathy is the greatest thing that has ever ________to me! She is a fantastic mother, and the best wife a coach could ever have. Thank God I got sick 27 years ago!

The summer before my high school graduation, I went to West Virginia with others as members of the Appalachia Service Project. Our duty was to ________ the homes of those we served warmer and safer. My group was ________ the task of rebuilding sections of a home that had been damaged by ________ . No sooner had we parked on the home’s dirt driveway ________ we saw an excited little girl. Shoeless and wearing ________ clothes and the biggest smile I’d ever seen, she yelled, “Ma, Ma, they really came!” Her name was Dakota.

I discovered that my job that week would be to help ________ a fire-damaged dining room into a bedroom for this little girl. ________ the following days, I noticed Dakota ________ at us every now and then as we worked. A few times, I tried talking with her, but she remained________.

Before I went to work on her home on the ________ morning, I noticed Dakota was hiding behind her grandmother. Cautiously, she came into________, and J could see that just like her clothes, her face was still dirty. But no amount of ________ could hide those bright blue eyes and big smile. I wanted so much to ________ her, but respecting her shyness, I kept my ________.

Slowly, she began walking toward me. I noticed a folded piece of ________ in her tiny hand. ________, she reached up and handed it to me. Once ________, I looked at a drawing on the back of an old book cover. It was of two girls, and ________ on the bottom of the paper were three little ________ that instantly broke my heart: Please don’t leave. Now almost in tears, I ______ to the impulse (冲动) that I’d resisted only moments before — I bent down and hugged her.

Mildred Webinga Freeman was an English teacher at the new middle school I attended in the ninth grade. She wasn’t my _________; she was the adviser to the safety patrol (巡逻队) on which I _________. I loved being around her and _________ her sense of humor and kind personality. She was _________ a good listener.

At the end of the year, she announced that she was moving to Florida, and I was very sad. We exchanged_________and became pen pals. I could tell her _________, and she treated me _________ respect even though I was a teenager.

In Florida, Mrs Freeman became a Realtor (房地产经纪人), _________ she managed to find time to write letters. She wrote_________ stories and always took my concerns __________. She had given me an open invitation to visit, and I missed her so much. When I __________ to take her up on the offer, she answered, “Get your shoes on and your bags __________! You are welcome anytime!”

I spent three weeks with her in Miami. Her __________ of poetry, music, and creative writing __________ me to follow these endeavors (努力). One day while hanging sheets on the clothesline, she __________ and said, “You know, the sky is fuel for the soul.” I had never looked at the clouds before hearing those words. Later that year, I received a call that Mrs Freeman had died.