When Benjamin was born, he looked different from other babies. The doctors told my parents he had Down syndrome. I was _______ at the time, so I wasn’t sure what it was, but I knew it wasn’t _______. I also knew that I finally had the baby brother I _______, even if he wasn’t perfect. The doctors said Ben might need help doing _______ things such as walking, talking, eating and _______ with people. I was told that I would need to be extra careful with Ben, and that I might someday have to _______ for him and protect him. Of course, _______ of these warnings bothered me; I knew from the second I laid _______ on him that I loved him.

As Ben and I got older, we were always together. After Benjamin learned to _______, we wanted to get him to jump, run and move around. ________ Ben preferred to follow my ________, his therapist or Mom would have me do the exercise first, and then Ben would try to do it. ________ me was Ben’s way of saying he loved me.

A few years ago, I went away with some friends for the day. Sitting in the bus, we started talking about our siblings (兄弟姊妹). My friends were saying how stupid and annoying ________ siblings were. I hadn’t said anything; I was just listening in ________. I had never thought there were brothers and sisters that just didn’t ________. Suddenly I said, “I love my brother.” I said “love”________ because it was true.

There are no ________ thoughts in my head when I hear people making fun of Ben. I go right up to them and explain that Ben has Down syndrome, that his life isn’t as easy for him as it is for us, and that if you give Ben a ________ he’ll be the best he can be at ________ you want him to be.

I think Ben is ________ just the way he is. I will always love Ben, and he will always love me, no matter what.

Mom and I pulled our artificial Christmas tree out of the box together. Mom hoped the lights all worked. Actually I didn't_________whether we even had a tree or not when I was_________the next day. It was our first Christmas without my father. My_________was too heavy to enjoy anything. How I wished would decorate the tree that Dad and I had_________together the year before. That_________had been perfect, like everything about that Christmas.

Throughout my childhood, my father was in and out of the hospital_________from leukemia(白血病). My grown-up brother and sisters had memories of him when he was younger and full of_________. But the dad I loved was almost always_________.

Until suddenly in time for Christmas, like a_________, my father seemed to get better. Dad took the__________to make the most of every good day he had.

"Are you thinking about the tree last year?" Mom asked, "Yes, Mom." I__________.

The tree had been Dad's__________. A real tree, not our artificial one. Dad and l drove to the Christmas tree farm to get it. In his truck, he__________his Christmases with me on the way there: "My brothers and I used to go to the woods to__________our tree, and we decorated our tree with something from the farm as well," Dad__________, "One year we did earn enough__________from the sale of crops. So we could__________some beautiful lights from the supermarket. "When Dad and I returned home with our tree, I asked him if we could__________it as he had when he was a boy, "Sure we can!" Dad agreed__________.

Mom had decorated the artificial Christmas tree. Looking at the shining tree, I thought the Christmas would never be__________after Dad passed away.

Growing up, I always hid my thumbs in my fists because of their unusual shape. _________ they do look more like a big toe（脚趾）_________ a thumb. And from an early age, my thumbs _________ another name “toe thumbs” .

In high school, I served as a cashier in a grocery store. One day, I was _________ a sweet little old lady and as I _________ her change back to her, she suddenly took my hands and said in a thick Polish _________, “You are Polish! Look at those _________ Polish thumbs! They match mine!” She raised her hands and _________ her thumbs to me that _________ weathered and wrinkled, looked exactly like mine! She __________ my hands again and said, “Be __________ of those thumbs!”

I’ll never forget that 30-second __________ with a stranger that forever __________ my view of a part of me I once was __________ by and now accept. As I was eating dinner with my Samuel tonight, he looked down at my hand __________ on the table next to his and said, “Mommy! Our thumbs __________!” I smiled and answered, “Yes, they do, buddy! Those are strong Polish __________ you have! Take pride in them! Maybe someday you’ll have a little boy or girl who will have the same thumbs!” I __________ my son never hides his thumbs like I did. I hope he’ll be proud of their “unusualness” and the __________ behind them. He carries on a(n) __________ part of me and that for me will always be beautiful!