In my younger years, my mother gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “________ while you’re still young,” she told me, “as much as possible.”________ whenever I have days off, I usually travel somewhere. And thanks to this ________ I met Sato Taeko, a Japanese film producer, on the Isle of Skye in the UK.

I still remember the moment Taeko and I first met. Skye is a mountainous and isolated (偏远的) island in Scotland ________ public transport is inaccessible (难到达的), so I joined a ________ tour on the island and arranged to stay at a local bed and breakfast.

We didn’t meet until breakfast the next morning. It was so ________ to see an Asian face on this isolated island, so we started to talk. From our ________, I learned that Taeko was traveling around Europe ________ she and her colleagues had attended the 67th Cannes Film Festival in France with their film An American Piano (2014).

After chatting for only 20 minutes, our friendship took ________. We exchanged phone numbers and left ________ our separate bus journeys after breakfast. ________, afterwards, we reunited with each other again and again in different cities in the UK.

Taeko is an elegant and friendly lady who always speaks to people in a ________ voice. Although there’s a huge age difference between us, we still ________ many interests. Taeko told me her husband was a ________ in American literature at the University of Tokyo. They met one another at a party in their 20s, with a mutual love for literature ________ them together.

But ________, her husband passed away 18 years ago, and Taeko has remained ________ since then. She produces films, runs marathons, travels around the world and makes global friends. You can never tell ________ she will be tomorrow.

Once, I asked her if she ever felt lonely, ________ she said she never did. ________, she feels fulfilled. She’s been doing exactly what she likes to do: be happy.

Many years ago, when I was a little child, my parents always moved from one place to another. Before I could even get _______ with my schoolmates, my family was on the move again. I became very _______ because of this.

But a girl with dark skin and long shiny hair _______ me. Her best characteristics are her openness and _______. She is always smiling, like a beautiful sunflower following the sun. Without _______, I enjoyed being with her and soon we became good friends. As time went by, I gradually became a _______ girl. But this joyful period didn’t last long. We were admitted to different colleges. I felt like I had gone _______ to my always-on-the-move childhood. I felt _______ and helpless and I was afraid that I would _______ her as my best friend. She stayed calm and said to me: “Rain, you can achieve more than I do, so ________ to your dreams and make a big effort! Real friendship doesn’t fade and we will be best friends forever.” Maybe she didn’t realize what a great ________ she was to me at that time.

However, it turned out that my ________ were well-founded. I felt that the ________ between us was getting bigger and bigger. One day, she sent me a text message happily telling me that she had fallen in love with a handsome boy in her class.

I felt happy for her, but at the same time I was secretly worried about our friendship. I ________ her several times intending to tell her to think carefully about her ________ with the boy, but I got no more message from her. I felt sad that perhaps our friendship would not ________. I had almost given up hope ________ she visited me at my campus a week later. She looked ________ but was wearing the most beautiful smile. She gave me a big hug and said, “I’m sorry. I want to be myself and your friend forever!” We cried together, ________ the people walking past. She told me her sad story, and we knew we had gone back to how it was before.

Now I firmly believe that distance and time can’t ________ you from a friend. If you care enough about each other, friendship never fades.

Today I met a lovely 97-year-old lady named Mary at my mom’s apartment. I got there early. While I ________ my mom, I sat in the car and ________ the people coming and going. Mary sat on the bench and I ________ her waving to me to come over to her. I got out of the ________ and sat down on the bench next to her.

“I’m 97,” she said, “and I’m so ________! Everyone I know has passed away as I am the ________ child.” My heart went out to her and I ________ held her hand and held on. And she hugged (拥抱) me and we ________ for about ten minutes and I learned more about her experience. Then she kissed me on the cheek.

“You are the nicest ________ I have met today,” she said.

“I’m so glad we met!” I said.

I forgot to give her a peace dove, but I was ________ one of the necklaces my mom had given me. Now I only have a few ________ but I felt like I wanted her to know I was there for her. So I took off my necklace and gave it to her. ________, she was extremely surprised and delighted.

“Thank you so much!” And she ________ the necklace right away, asking me whether it was beautiful. She said she didn’t even know who I was. So I told her my ________ and later it turned out that she ________ right down the hall from my mom.

When I met Mom, I left some peace doves with her. She ________ a yellow one, her favorite color, for herself and read the ________ with encouraging sayings on it. “I love it! Thanks very much, my dear daughter!” Mom said.

I told Mom about the old lady and she felt ________ for the old lady’s present situation. She ________ to give my phone number, along with the peace dove, to Mary So I got a new ________ today.