Life is colorful. Sometimes it’s just like potato salad; when it’s shared, it became a picnic.

With three young children to bring up, my husband John and I were very _______. "Can we go on a picnic, Mom?" my six-year-old daughter, Becky _______. "Please." I had said no so many times in _______ months, and I decided the usual Saturday morning chores could _______. To her _______, I agreed.

I prepared a few sandwiches and _______ a cooler with ice and drinks and called John _______.

My eleven-year-old twin sons loaded the cooler and the picnic basket in the trunk and off we went to spend some _______ time together as a family.

About the time I got the lunch _______ out on the table, John arrived on the ________. That was one of the happiest meals we ever shared together. The meal was full of ________. We felt a closeness that had been hidden by work and school responsibilities for so many months. John and the boys ________ rocks into the lake, Becky fed the ducks and I sat quietly at the picnic table, ________ God for blessing me with such a wonderful family.

That night as our children went to bed, I kissed their cheeks. It ________ me what a wonderful life I had. As I walked out of the room it dawned on me that even the busiest ________ could become a picnic when it’s shared with the ones you ________. Even though kids have now grown up and ________ from home, I can still remember how I felt that day while sitting at the picnic table.

Maybe today would be a good time to ________ potato salad, call all of my ________ kids, feed some hungry ducks and skipped a few rocks into the lake. Since life is like potato salad, let’s make it a ________.

Taking part in a party is an interesting experience for all those girls and women who love eating, chatting and playing over a simple cup of tea and having a good time all afternoon. If you are going to _______ a tea party, you will have to plan well.

Parties nowadays are simply to _______ and have some fun in the sun. Making it a party for celebrations can be the greatest _______.

If you have a theme (主题) for your party, make the invitations in that _______. Make the invitations in light color _______ pink. You can tie ribbons (丝带) to the invitations to make them _______ beautiful and write what you want to express in _______ handwriting. Once they’re ready, take out your _______ book and send out the invitations to _______ your guests.

Party foods can be either __________ at home or brought by the guests to make the party more __________. Since it is a party, you can also have singers, __________ and even some music to be played by some of your talented __________.

You can also __________ some gifts for the guests attending the party. Give the __________ to your guests after your party and __________ your guests for adding fun and excitement to the party. __________ doing so, the guests will know that you are such a kind and polite person, and __________ you invite them, they will be glad to come and have more __________ together with you.

With those special ideas for a party, don’t you __________ hosting one? Go ahead and have some fun.

I believe that life’s toughest lessons are best learned through personal experience. Throughout my childhood, my grandmother ______ me with unconditional love but always stressed, “You’re not ______ than anyone else, but you’re just as good as anyone. Treat others with ______ , and you would earn respect ______.

However, I never really ______ it until I was seventeen and got a summer job as a janitor. As I ______ floors and toilets, I watched people walk right by me and ignore my ______. This made me feel angry and wonder why they treated me so poorly.

When I ______ to my grandmother, she offered me some words of ______ and reminded me never to forget the feeling of being “______” and to do the best job, because it was still my work, ______ which I should take pride. She added that it would make me a better man someday.

Make me a better man someday? She must be ______, I thought to myself. But I needed the job to ______ college and there were few other jobs available, ______ I bit my tongue and kept on working as best as I could for the ______ of the summer.

Today, when asked what job helped prepare me to gain the ______ of a key university, I tell people it was my summer job cleaning restrooms that ______ me as a man and, down the road, as an educator.

As you can see, ______ can only be understood by walking in a lot of different shoes. So I suggest students ______ of their comfort zones and get deeply involved in different work and community experience. It's essential for people to find ______ in every person, no matter who they are or what they do for a living.