It was just the three of us—my parents and me. My dad is a truck driver, and was gone most of the time, ______ supplies around the Midwest. So my mother was always like a ______ mother. We moved there on my third birthday. My first memory is our next-door ______ Arlene and her husband Bill, to whom I was always talking. I think what drew me to Arlene and Bill is that they never ______ listening to me. I also think Arlene saw a lot of herself in me-we were both lonely, anxious kids. Bill too. And that may be ______ she always took the time to listen to me. It was a wonderful ______.

One day, my parents asked Bill and Arlene whether they’d ______ me while they went out on a date. This worked well, so it became a monthly ______ .When I was about five, I had an idea, “What if Bill and Arlene ______ me as their granddaughter?” The next day, I knocked on their door, sat down in their living room, and asked, “Will you guys be my grandparents?” They started crying and ______ accepted. Soon after they printed an adoption certificate, and ______ it on their living room wall from then on. I was surprised that they took my offer so ______. They could have ______ it off. Thinking of that moment still brings tears to my eyes. There is something truly ______ about a child offering up her love and adults being so excited to accept it.

Over the years, Bill and Arlene ______ me in all my dreams. They encouraged me to apply for college. And when I got accepted to Colorado State University, they presented me with a ______. They told me they’d been putting away money for me.

Since I’ve become an adult, I’ve learned more about my grandparents. Both of them grew up poor. Their lives weren’t as ______ as they appeared to be. But the two of them always seemed genuinely happy in each other’s ______ .

Arlene passed away in 2013. Bill gave me the ring he’d ______ to Arlene on their 25^th wedding anniversary which I wear on my ring finger as a ______ of the kind of love I wish to put into this world.

I always pay attention to the first impression I leave upon strangers. However, I have ______ that no stranger cares much about what you have done.

It was Saturday. I was very excited after a week's hard study. What was more, my former classmate and best friend was coming to visit me.

When dusk ______ near, my friend appeared on time. We decided to have supper together and went to a restaurant. To my astonishment, many people were ______ at us as if we were monsters from other planets. I looked myself up and down, but found nothing was ______ . When I cast my eyes at my friend, suddenly I realized what had happened:I was with a boy ______.

My friend also noticed it. We looked at each other and smiled. ______ , people kept staring at us throughout our meal ______ the strange atmosphere made us uncomfortable.

During the meal, I ______ that my friend finish as fast as possible, so that we could get out of such an embarrassing situation. Suddenly my friend noticed another classmate passing by the ______ and he rose to his feet to ______ him. But he was in such a hurry that he knocked down the table, leading to the hot soup pouring all over me. Even worse, his voice caught people's ______ again. The ______ on their faces showed me that they were laughing at us.

How embarrassed I was! My face turned red and I wished I could find a hole to ______ in. As quickly as possible, I rushed out of the restaurant. My friend ______ and he caught up with me when I was so tired that I had to stop. But he was so ______ that it surprised me.

"Don't be too ______ what people think about you," he said to me. "In fact, to many ______ , you are just a passing figure, like a piece of cloud in the sky, which will disappear in no ______ . Nobody knows who you are. You can just be yourself."

Yes, he is right. No one in the restaurant actually knew who I was I should just be myself and ______ others' prejudices(偏见) aside. Life is a long road and we need not make such fuss(大惊小怪)of tiny things-it is too ______ .

My daughter performed on behalf of her class in the school concert today. She played so ________ that I could not help cheering her. The very ________reminded me of her experiences of piano practicing.

When she was five, we gave her a piano as a birthday present. With great excitement, she began learning it. However, when she was no longer ________ , she became sick of it. After all, it is a tough job to learn the piano, not to mention the daily routine (常规) of ________ .

When her first teacher left, my friend ________ me to an American teacher whose way of teaching was completely American. After practicing, she would give my daughter some good comments, and then point out what should be ________. Every time she came, ________ beginning the lesson right away, she would first play some music. She said, “To learn the piano, you should learn not only the ________of playing, but more importantly, to ________the music and love it.”

After some time, my daughter became fond of her lessons. Sometimes she even would like to ________ a little bit when her skill had reached a certain level.

Surprisingly, my daughter said to me one day, “Mom, I was ________ that you didn’t give up my piano lessons. Learning it is like climbing a mountain. You’ll feel ________when you are on the way. When you look ________from where you are, you will realize that you have been making ________ . But if you ________ , you’ll never take one more step.” That was the very thing I wanted to teach her.