I walked into the grocery store not particularly interested in buying groceries. The pain of losing my husband of 7 years was still too ______. And this grocery store held so many sweet ______.

He often came with me and almost every time he’d ______ to go off and look for something special. I knew what he was up to. I’d always spot him walking down the aisle with the three yellow ______ in his hands. He knew I loved yellow roses.

With a heart filled with ______, I only wanted to buy my few items and leave, but even grocery shopping was different since he had ______.

Standing by the meat, I searched for the perfect small steak and remembered how he had loved his steak.

Suddenly a beautiful woman came beside me. I watched as she picked up a large package of _____, dropped them in her basket. ______, and then put them back. She saw me watching her and she smiled. "My husband loves T-bones, but ______, at these prices, I don’t know."

"My husband passed away eight days ago," I told her. "Buy him the steaks. And _______ every moment you have together." She placed the package in her basket and ______ away.

I pushed my cart, chose an ice cream and looked ahead. I then ______ the pretty lady coming towards me. In her arms, she carried a package.

As she came ______, I saw what she held and tears began ______ in my eyes. "These are for you," she said and placed three beautiful roses in my arms. "When you go through the line, they will know these are paid for." She leaned over and placed a gentle _______ on my cheek, and then smiled again. I wanted to tell her what she’d done, what the roses meant, but still _______ to speak, I watched as she walked away as tears _____my vision.

I looked down at the beautiful roses ______ in the green tissue wrapping(包装) and found it almost ______. How did she know? Suddenly the answer seemed so clear. I wasn’t ______.

I had driven home to celebrate my 38th birthday with my mother. When I arrived, I found her sitting proudly at the kitchen table, a chocolate cake and two boxes wrapped in orange ribbon(丝带) in front of her. “Happy birthday!” she said, _______ at the boxes. “Open them. ”

As she knows me_______ than anyone, she’d gotten me exactly what I wanted — running clothes. I hugged her and thanked her and proceeded to eat the cake.

“Too many_______, ” I said, not really caring.

“You’ll run them off tomorrow, ” Mom said.

Many adult children with a parent suffering from_______ memory will tell you there was one day that _______ to them that their relationship with their mother or father would be forever changed.

For me that day_______two weeks later, when I drove back for another short_______. I came upon exactly the same _______: my mom sitting at the kitchen table; a chocolate cake resting next to two boxes wrapped in curly ribbon. The ribbon was green this time. That was the only _______. “Happy birthday!” my mom said.

I was totally confused. “What’s going on?” I asked. She smiled, “Can’t I celebrate my daughter’s birthday?”

This was no________. This was real life, and since my mother clearly only wanted to make me ________, I pushed aside my fear and fulfilled my role as the ________ daughter. I hugged her, thanked her and ________ the clothes… I did not mention to her that we’d done all this two weeks ago.

My house is her world now. My mother and I have the________ conversation roughly 10 times a day. ________, I consider it a pleasure, because every minute is new for her.

Earlier that evening, my mother called, telling me that my brother died in a car crash. I stumbled (跌跌撞撞地走) around the house _________ what to put into the suitcases. My husband, Larry, and I had been packing for moving to New Mexico. The house was in (a) total _________.

I tried to hold my tears. I _________ picked things up and put them down. I couldn't _________. What I'd heard on the phone echoed (回荡) through my head.

Larry phoned a few friends. _________, someone asked to speak to me. “If there is anything I can do, let me know.” “Thank you,” I replied. I didn't know what to _________.

The doorbell rang and I rose slowly for the door. It was Donna.

“I've come to clean your shoes,” she said. _________, I asked her to repeat. “When my father died, it took me _________ to get the shoes cleaned and shined for my father's _________,” she said. I hadn't even thought about shoes.

Shoes were gathered. Donna __________ herself on the floor and got to work. The love in the act __________ my tears. Watching her __________ on one task helped me pull my __________into order. Laundry first, I told myself. One by one, the jobs fell into place.

Now whenever I hear of an acquaintance's loss of a loved one, I think of one __________ task that suits that person's __________. If the person asks, “How did you know I needed that?” I'd reply, “Because someone did that.”