My daughter Kelly is a cautious person. She needs to warm up to situations, and is________ to try new things. When with close friends, she becomes a________who laughs loudly and chants, “Girls rule, boys drool.” But when that comfort zone is not around her, she is shy and________.

This has been challenging for me________. “Shy” is not a word that I think has ever been used to describe me. But this has been a year of________for my girl that has filled her with a new sense of ________. This year she moved to lap lane in swimming where she was preparing for a swim team. This year she learned to ride a bike without training wheels. And this year she________her first kids’ triathlon (铁人三项运动).

On Saturday, with a thunderstorm coming soon and my son’s birthday party later in the day, we all went out in the dark of the morning for Kelly to________her first triathlon. We practiced transitions from swim to bike and to run with her. We got all the equipment she’d need and we kept talking about the________. But as we waited the two hours for the older kids to finish before her turn, she________my leg a little harder and told me she loved me too many times. She was nervous but trying to keep calm.

And then it was time for her to go. From the second she jumped into the water, my heart________quickly. My daughter ________ into the most confident human being I had ever seen. She dominated that swim, crushed that bike ride and ran to the ________with the biggest smile on her face.

I can honestly say that I never felt so________ of someone in my entire life. It wasn’t because she did a sport or anything like that. It was because she was afraid of something and ________that fear with confidence and a fire I hadn’t seen before.

John Berry of Burlington, Kentucky, was just 15 years old when his mother died unexpectedly. He has lots of _________of her mother from his youth. _________,when she passed away, he didn't have many physical _________ to remember her by.

A few years after her death, John's father _________ her car to a collector in Michigan. As he grew up, John's_________was still on that green car and the freedom it represented. Over two _________,John reached out to the car's owner_________ to ask if he could buy it, but the man_________For about 20 to 22 years, John kept _________ with that gentleman. Finally, after years of __________the man wrote to John and said he was __________ to pass the car on. The gentleman said, “I am 81 years old, and get to thinking about your __________ for the car and the number of years that I'll be able to __________ it. I think it is time to let it __________.”

When receiving the car, John __________ the entire experience was like a trip down memory path. Not only was the car still in __________ condition with just 42,000 miles, but the glove box also contained a time capsule from his mother's __________: a pair of sunglasses and stamps that she had__________there.

Some things really are worth the wait! John finally realized his__________ and now his own children can take a ride in the very car their grandmother owned.__________really does pay off.