Anytime I see banana pudding on a menu, I’m taken back to a special moment in my life when I learned an important lesson about jealousy(嫉妒)and love.

It all began when my stepchildren came for a visit shortly after their father and I were married. Cheryl was 8, and Chuck was 10. I ______ the kids from the start. They ______ to like me well enough, but I wasn’t sure, especially at mealtime. Cheryl enjoyed ______ me prepare the evening meal in the kitchen. She often ______ the bowls and asked, “ What’s that? And that ... and that!”

My answers did not seem to ______ her. “My mama doesn’t make it that way,” she said. “Well, just taste it at dinner.” I said, smiling ______ to mask my embarrassment. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.”

Unfortunately, her father believed that children should eat ______ on their plate, including any terrible dish I made in a different way from their mother did. ______ I started to feel like Snow White’s bad stepmother. Chuck began to develop ______ remarks and shouted, “Mama doesn’t make it that way.”

One night Chuck found some popcorn under the cushions. He criticized me, saying that his mama always ______ under their sofa seats every week. By this time, I was developing a serious dislike both for his mother and her ______ of doing things. Then, at last, I found a ______ their mama didn’t make — one both the kids liked — banana pudding. They helped me do it in the kitchen. We all had ______   . It was a time of sharing and laughter.

On the last night before they were to ______ home, my sister-in-law Carol came with a big ______ of home-made banana pudding in her hands. Cheryl took a look at the container, then ______ her head and said, “Karen doesn‘t make it that way.”

______, my anxiety disappeared, and I knew that when those kids got back home, their mother would be ______ a lot about how “Karen doesn’t do it that way.” She had my ______   and respect.

It seemed their mom and I had more in common than I thought, we both used one most important thing in our cooking —______.

For long, a question disturbed a little boy. He couldn’t understand why his next-desk-pal (同伴) could rank 1st whenever he wanted to, while he himself _________ to.

At home, he despondently asked his Mom, “Mom, am I more _________ than others? I feel I study as hard as him, but why do I _________ lay behind?” Staring at him, she went _________, not knowing how to explain.

She felt an impulse (冲动) to say, “You are too _________. You are not really as hard-working as others...”. But she stopped, _________ she knew her son was suffering from the pains of _________ grades and rankings. She thought it cruel to add any additional burden to his son and was trying to find out a _________ answer.

Time went by quickly, the son finished primary school. Although his studying was harder and better, he was still unable to _________ his pal. To show her pride of him, Mom decided to take him to the sea. During the trip, she managed to give out an answer.

Now, the son no longer __________ his rankings, because, with the 1st ranking, he was __________ to Harvard University.

Back home in winter vacation, he was invited to give a speech to the students and parents in his high school. In the speech, he mentioned a(n) __________ experience in his childhood. “When my mother and I were lying on the beach, she pointed to the front and said, ‘Do you see the seabirds flying for food over there? When the __________ come near, little birds can escape quickly __________ “clumsy” seagulls would take more time to complete the process. However, have you noticed birds that __________ fly across the endless ocean are “clumsy” (笨拙的) seagulls?’”

I became a gardener when I was twelve. My early_______of gardening may not have originated from my_______for nature. It was to annoy my parents.

At that time, we had a big yard in which a beautiful maple tree stood. But my mother often looked with _______at this work of natural art. Those golden leaves seemed like tons of rubbish to her. Seeing the neighbors busy with _______, my father ever thought it a waste of time.

At that age, I always did something_______to whatever my parents did! If gardening were something they found _______, I would plant a garden!

I planted some lily seeds in the yard. But they_______to come up. I continued to plant sunflower seeds and roses. Wild _______joy, I found the first rose bloom. One by one, the flowers bloomed their heads off. Eventually, I was _______by this land of wonder.

__________, my parents showed no interest in my garden. My father even __________at me because he found it was__________to move around my garden to the driveway. To my mother's __________, I put in her vase my real roses which, in her eyes, were simply weeds rather than __________.

Regardless of their __________, I kept on planting my garden and__________to enjoy the pleasure of gardening. Plants make such good companions: they breathe, they bloom, they__________to care and love.

It has been many years since I made my first garden out of my desire to__________my parents. Today I become known as Mrs. Greenthumbs, teaching gardening and hosting a gardening show which makes my parents feel very__________. And now I could say it is my affection for __________that makes me a real gardener.