My father, a soldier, was ordered to change his duty station again. His favorite musical instrument—the ukulele I had watched him play each day—was going to be ______ there lifeless.

It came as a ______ because we had just moved into the present duty station a few weeks before. It was the fourth time we'd moved to a ______ place in just two years. Far from his hometown for a long time though, music, a ______ of his home and Hawaii culture, was ______ in the whole life of my father. We learned about our ancestors and family traditions ______ through his music.

But this time, everything was ______. We were finally “home” in Hawaii and expected to ______ a place that we'd only heard about in my parents5 stories. We were just arriving, but he was already prepared to ______ again, this time without us. ______ we were surrounded by cousins and aunties who grew up knowing each other and ______ a cultural tradition of which we only knew one or two. We were ______ in the family, because the person we were only familiar with, our father, was gone. That was when I ______ my father's ukulele. As I plucked (弹拨) the strings tunelessly, I felt ______ to him and our Hawaiian roots. So I picked up an old song book, and I ______ myself to play. I would play and sing, as if my father had been here. After my father eventually ______ he bought another ukulele, and we had a mini concert. He was ______ that I had learned so much. After that, the ______ I really acquired was that music has the ______ to do the extraordinary things ______ us to our culture and each other, our past and our present.

My grandfather was a writer of many books. As a child and a teenager, I wrote _________, trying to be an author like him.When I _________ my first book, I was not sure if I should throw it out to the world or shelter it forever. That’s why I went to grandpa that night, my faithful reader, who once again gave me tremendous _________。

“Did you bring the book? I heard you talk about it and I can’t wait to see your _________.”

“Oh yeah, the book. I completed it yesterday,” I handed him the draft, “but I don’t think it’s that good...”

He turned to a random page and _________ more of the pages. “Why do you think this isn’t good? It looks fine to me.Very heart-warming.”

“Well, I’m not sure. It could be better than it is now.”

“You can’t expect for the book to be _________. Writing is a skill that takes time. You already finished the story, and now you have to _________ others what you’ve got.” he passed the book back to me. “If people don’t like it, then write again. Criticism is important, but you are going to have to keep on writing till you are _________ with your work.”

“Is that how you became a writer?”

“Yes, and every other writer before me. You have to start from the _________ and then reach the top.”

I finally broke out into a smile and he did too. I looked carefully at the book one more time. The pages bound together gave me hope for the future. That settled it. I was going to have to __________ myself and let others see my work. For me and for my grandpa.

I used to be worried about what I should buy my dad for Father’s Day. I’d _________ countless stores for something that my dad would like. But I never had _________. That was years ago when I was _________ and thought every holiday was about _________.

Those years it was usually months after Father’s Day that my dad _________ a gift because he always told me he never “_________” anything. So I stopped getting him things and, _________, started taking him out to movies, to restaurants or to shows, which brought him much laughter.

We should _________ spending time with our fathers doing something they’ll _________. If he is fond of fishing, go fishing with him. Anything you can do to spend time with your father is better than anything you can __________ in a box and put a bow on, unless of course, you put yourself in a box, pop out and hand him tickets to a show or a game.

If, however, your mind is still set on getting a(n) __________ gift as well, then replace that thing that needs to be __________. That’s probably what I’m going to do next year for my father. Sorry, Dad, but this really will be the last summer your lawn mower can __________. If your dad is anything like mine, he’ll __________ until whatever needs to be replaced is __________ broken. And by that I mean it’s there-is-no-possible-way-it-can-be-fixed broken. So __________ it for him.

Many people may no longer have a(n) __________ with their dad. So for those who are lucky like me, it’s a __________ to take our dads for granted. The times we can laugh sure __________ the times we can’t. Now, do something with your dad to make him happy. __________ the materialistic gifts. Bring on the laughs.