With COVID-19 spreading worldwide, turning 12 years old during home isolation (隔离)is hardly any child’s idea of an exciting birthday. However, in Houston, Texas, one boy’s socially distanced celebration turned out to be ________.

Jody Smith wanted to find a way to ________ his son, Brandon’s birthday on April 11,2020 while obeying stay-at-home orders. He ________ Twitter. His request was simple: Reply to a drawing of Brando holding a blank hand-drawn ________ of the world. Tell him where they were so tell-year-old could ________ the position on it

“I thought it would be fun to get 50 or maybe 100 people to reply, and most would be in the US,” Smith said. “That was rally what my ________ was.” However, responses ________ in by the thousands. There were pictures of ocean-side views from Trinidad and Tobago, ________ of downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, and nighttime scenes fro Istanbul. Even accounts like BMW in Germany sent Brandon a birthday ________ from Munich. “Brandon” soon ranked first in Twitter’s popular topic list.

Whenever a new Twitter message pinged(乒乒作响)on Smith’s phone, Brandon added a dot(点) to the blank map. He can usually do it without having to look at his iPad for reference “He’d ________ the world map very well, so he knew where the places were,” Smith said.

By midday, Brandon’s map was already ________ with clusters (团簇)from North America and Europe.Most Asian people were still ________ when Smith first put his request on Twitter. Even so, be still got middle of-the-night ________ from China and South Korea.

“Those were pretty tough times.It was so great to see people create such a(n) ________ story. And its made Brandon feel so special,” Smith said. “I’m ________ to all the kind people.They take time out of their day to make a 12-year-old boy feel so good”

Some people got off the bus. New faces stepped on.

I was sitting there looking at the driver with respect. A thought __ that I should tell him how much I __ seeing his kindness, especially to the blind woman.

“No, that's kind of random,” a voice inside my head told me, as my ___thought came up with all sorts of excuses. “You’re supposed to go out of the back door anyway, so you won’t have a __ to go up and say anything to the bus driver.”

I thought about it again and then I thought about all the small and __ moments of kindness I have met in this community. There was no turning back. As the bus____ my stop, I walked to the ____ of the bus. “Thank you so much for your kindness to that __ woman. It was really nice to see.” I offered. “Well, that's really nice to hear. Thank you so much! It's nice to know that someone __. My brother is deaf. So I have a special soft spot for people with __.” he explained.

“Well, I really appreciated seeing it. It was___ and made my day.” I told him, smiling brightly. “Thank you. That really makes my day.” he replied, with a ___smile.

We talked a little more, and any wave of doubt completely___. I stepped off the bus a little later in relief. And it __ me of a line I once came across: Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

Gratitude to have met such memorable stories of everyday __, and to be in contact with beautiful souls encourages me to speak out my inner voice in times of beauty.

It is 27 years since my last conversation with my mother, who didn’t finish school. She often told me, “I never got my ________ but one day you will.” Pointing to a tree or cow, she asked me to ________ their English names after her. Feeling ________ , I asked, “Mama, why do I have to learn these foreign phrases?” She held her pen right before my eyes. “Hold it firmly”, she encouraged me, “for this pen and the new ________ language will be your compass to sail around the world.” Sadly, my mother ________ a serious disease when I was six.

Turning seven, I traveled 30 miles to live ________ to my school. But “closer” is a relative term in Uganda. It means I still had to get up as the early ________ rose and then ran 8.8 miles barefoot to school. Also, I needed to carry a stick to look out for snakes and dogs. During the rainy season, the path to school was ________ daily and I would swim with one hand, using the other ________ to hold the school bag on my head.

Research shows 70 percent of poor children don’t ________ primary school in Uganda. Reasons for this dropout rate include the long ________ some children must cover among many other reasons. ________, I’ve made it. Whenever seeing the sunrise, I am ________ of the wisdom of my mother, who ________ me to dream big and to use the power of the pen to make my ________ come true.