Last week I went shopping in the supermarket. I got to the front of the ___________ and put my groceries through the checkout. I was about to pay, when I ___________ that I didn't have my bankcard with me. I _________.Then I remembered I left it at home when I ___________ something online. All I had was $30 in notes and some coins in my wallet. I was short ___________ at least $25, and I needed to buy most of the items.

I started to ___________ to the checkout lady. "I'm sorry, I stop the queue. Can I put these things back, and then think I'll ___________ these. Oh, no, need that."

An Irish lady was ___________ behind me, next in the queue. "Excuse me, Dear," she said. "Oh, I'm so sorry," I replied, "I'm ___________ you up." "Of course not. I know ____________ you feel. This happens to all of us at some point. Now please use my ____________ to pay the bill and you can be on your way."

I was astonished by her kindness, ____________ even. No matter how I insisted otherwise, she was ________ to help me. Afterwards I asked for her telephone number to ____________ and pay her back. "No," she said, "rather pay it forward. You may do a good deed for the next person in need."

By helping others, can we start chain ____________ of positive feeling and charity that can benefit our whole society?

It’s 27 years since my last conversation with my mother, who didn’t finish school like many of her contemporary girls. She often told me, “I never got my ________ but one day you will.”

Pointing to a tree or cow, she asked me to ________ their English names after her. Feeling ________, I asked, “Mama, why do I have to learn these ________ phrases?” She held her pen right before my eyes. “Hold it firmly,” she ________ me, “for this pen and the new foreign language will be your compass to ________ around the world.” Sadly, my mother died of breast cancer when I was six.

Turning seven, I traveled 30 miles to live closer to my school. But “closer” is a ________ term in Uganda, which ________ I had to get up as the ________ sun rose and then ran 8. 8 miles barefoot to school. Also, I needed to carry a stick in ________ of snakes and dogs. During the ________ season, the path to school was ________ daily and I’d swim with one hand, using the other hand to ________ the book bag on my head.

Research shows 70 percent of poor children don’t ________ primary school in Uganda. Reasons for this ________ dropout rate includes the long ________ some children must ________ among many other reasons.

Fortunately, I’ve made it. Whenever I see the sun rise, I am ________ of the wisdom of my mother, who ________ me to dream big and to use the ________ of the pen to make my dream come true.

I was sitting in a chair having coffee when a text message from a former colleague woke me from my daydreams.

“Do you want to _________your rocking chair?”

I taught grades 1-2 for 17 years, and my dreams as a teacher were tied to that rocking chair. It was a _________idea to have it in my class. Every day after break time , the class would _________around and listen to the story I was reading. When the students are close, they find the _________to share their stories, dreams and fears. The chair was part of my ________, part of me.

________, I became unwell and couldn’t keep teaching. I experienced _________anxiety and at last I was forced to _________the job. With my life as a teacher over, I needed a new path. And I didn’t have to look far.

My husband and I _________one of my former students in 2017. The complexity of parenting a child who came to us at 9 years old changed our lives in _________ways. But it inspired the part of me that _________being a parent. We spent _________hours staying with books - healing, bonding and solidifying our family, which gave me a new purpose.

I joined a _________group of local moms. For about a year, I met with them weekly for walks or coffee. We came together to ________, and then I started giving and receiving help, I gave driving practice to a single mom with her learner’s license and received emotional support in _________I also took her son on hikes around the city. Another woman encouraged me to buy a stand-up paddleboard and gave me lessons.

My family, my books, _________a new purpose and belonging in a community -these are fulfilling the sense of self I used to _________as a teacher. I learned my _________doesn’t need to change, Fm still honoring those core (核心的)values _________I’m working as a teacher. What about that rocking chair? I looked back at the text message, My answer was no, and I don’t need the chair. I’ll let it go to a new ________!