Never criticize someone until you have walked in a mile in their shoes. During the past 25 years, I’ve often found that the saying has helped me see ___________ from a different view.

Once I was on my way to a party with several ___________. As we were leaving the office, we met another one, Wendy, who had ___________ planned to attend the event. We asked her to go together, but she ___________ our invitation rudely. The others were quite annoyed and clearly ___________ with Wendy’s behavior.

___________ how tired Wendy appeared, I commented that perhaps we should pardon her. She was obviously having a ___________ day, and it wasn’t worth holding a grudge (恶意) against her if we weren’t ___________ of what led to her unusual behavior. A week later, I ___________ that Wendy had a serious illness. Wendy wasn’t being rude to us ______________ .

Whether it’s a family member who let me ______________, a friend who doesn’t keep his ______________, or a difficult workmate, the saying ______________ me. Although it’s not always easy to ______________, I’ve been able to get rid of a lot of ______________ over the years by focusing on it.

December 24 arrived along with a heavy snow. It was my first Christmas Eve without mother and the day’s usual _______ had disappeared.

The telephone rang. I _______ it and went to my bedroom to bury the continuous sadness, knowing it must be my friend Rebecca calling. How could I be _______? I wanted to be left alone .

My heart felt as _______ as the falling snow. How can I stop missing my mother?

I _______ the window. Seeing Rebecca’s car parked out front, I went back to bed and drew the covers over my head.

“Lucy!” she shouted. “I know you’re in there. Answer the door!”

“Leave me alone!” I _________ back. I heard paper rustling(沙沙作响) as she slid _________ under the door.

“Merry Christmas,” she called out.

Not answering the _________ made me feel even worse. It wasn’t fair to my best friend. Her father and sister _______ in a car accident when she was eight years old. __________, her mother had to return to __________, and Rebecca was left to look after herself.

When she left, I carried the small package, sat down and __________ it. Inside was a gold pen and a journal. When I opened the journal’s front cover, out fell a bookmark with a(n) __________ written on it:

My words won’t heal(治愈) the __________. But your own words can.

Love,

Rebecca

As I stared(盯着) at the journal’s blank pages, a single tear fell on the page which quickly absorbed it. That night, I __________ the phone and called her. “It looks like the snow is melting(融化),” I said. “Spring is just around the corner.”