Katy and I have been friends since college, for more than thirty years. Our friendship has 1 constant(不变的). We have seen each other through all the times when we really need a friend. In 2 of our friendship, Katy and I took our first 3 trip together.

    The first day of our trip ended in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 4 with the long drive, we decided to go to the restaurant for dinner. We sat down and 5our meal. As we talked, I noticed a（n）6 couple sitting a short distance away from us. The look of 7 on the woman's face attracted me.. She stared into the face of the man as he talked, 8 me of a teenager in love!

    I called Katy's 9 to the couple. As we watched, the man reached 10 to place a gentle kiss on the woman's cheek. She 11. “Now that's what I call real love! I imagine they've been married for a long time.” I said. “12 maybe,” remarked Katy, “They haven't been together long.” “Well, whatever the case, it's 13 they care much for each other,” I said.

    Katy and I watched and listened 14 to their conversation. She smiled and 15 whatever he said. We were touched by the warm scene we were witnessing (看到). Then the 16 changed. The woman's wrinkled but beautiful face was suddenly covered with a 17 look. She asked the man in a sweet voice, “Do I know you? What is this place?” “You know me. I'm Ralph, your husband. We're in Santa Fe,” the man said. “Oh, I 18 to have forgotten. I'm not sure,” she said. “That's okay, sweetheart. You'll be all right,” he 19 her, kissing her cheek again. Tears coursed down our cheeks as Katy and I looked at each other. “We were right,” she said 20. “It is the real thing. That is love.”

    Yesterday, I posted a story and afterwards donated a little money after I read others' sad stories. Later, as I got into bed and completed my1 and self-examination on the day, I came to the realization that I was 2money. Wow! It was just a  3  to see this in myself.

    It is 4 enough that in the real world I have money in the bank but don't give away  5 . I don't have a lot of money,6 enough to pay my bills and help my daughters. Also I save some money for a 7 day. I know I could give more but 8  and fed some comfort in a little pile of money. I'm quite 9 to see in myself that it is hard to practice the beautiful 10 in the real world. The belief is that the needs of people 11 are more important than having a little pile of money to feel 12 with.

    So here I was doing the same 13  thing-saving but not giving away much money! With so many people waiting to be helped, it was pretty terrible for me to 14 how much I 15  seeing that little pile of money in my hands. I have already16 today that even if it is hard to give it all away in the real world, I am going to guarantee more17will come my way.

    There will always be enough money for me. I am not going to let 18 pile up anymore. I am going to give it away when I19 it because love is  20  what makes the world go round.

    I was confused while I was eating lunch in a restaurant the other day. I was sitting there looking at what I'd1and wondered if anyone else could see the2in my mind. I'm about to 3a lot of fat and wash it down with a diet soda.

    What can I say? I'm trying to lose some weight.4I do things like that all the time, which is probably why the pounds are 5so slowly. I spent half an hour on the treadmill (跑步机) and I6myself with potato chips. I7that I will no longer eat them again, so I just eat a lot at this time. I make it all the way through the entire day doing everything absolutely right, and then at bedtime, “just one chip won't8it “turns into “where did that entire bag of potato chips go?”

    Of course, I9do well with my weight loss program, Once I put together two full weeks of eating properly and exercising10I was starting to feel a (an)11I could bend over to tie my shoes more easily. But just as it was about to become a12I entered a period of long, late nights filled with13deadlines. I sat in front of my computer, eating snacks and drinking sodas to help me stay14Within a few days, the habit of a sensible eating and exercising was a15.

Unfortunate but16I was too tired to get on the treadmill.17I had work to do, for which I needed all the energy I could 18 So I started skipping exercise sessions. And 19I started doing so, it became easier to skip them.

    There are always reasons not to do the things that we really should do. Every reason is just another 20.

    It was 7:00 am in Paris,France,and the taxi company had just called a second time to say they couldn't find my house.Once again I spelt out1even a blind person could follow.I glanced2at my watch,and waited.Only two hours remained3my flight left—and it was one and a half hours4to the airport.

    Outside,heavy rains were5.My house was so far north in the city that buses6only three times a day.

    The telephone rang again."Terribly sorry,"began the man at the taxi company.Then I realized that the taxi company,flooded with calls,could only7in-city runs.I had heard this happens when the8gets bad.I9into the phone that I had a10to catch and I would meet the taxi outside my house.

    Standing in the wind-driven rain,I looked11the road.No taxi.A car went by,the driver and passenger staring at the12foreigner in the downpour.

    13a white car appeared and14to a stop.A young man threw open the door,waving to me to get in.Shaking with cold and15,I climbed in.

    In the most16French,the man said he was called Will,with whom I had spoken three times that morning.He had left his post in the office and17here in his personal car.He18again,but didn't explain why no taxi would pick me up19me straight to the airport,he refused the 2,000 franc I pressed into his hand.

    A few hours later,as the storm-delayed plane20,I opened the newspaper.On the second page my eyes caught the headline of a short article: Taxi Strike Begins This Morning in Paris.

    Growing up, I always hid my thumbs in my fists because of their unusual shape. 1 they do look more like a big toe（脚趾）2 a thumb. And from an early age, my thumbs 3 another name “toe thumbs” .

    In high school, I served as a cashier in a grocery store. One day, I was 4 a sweet little old lady and as I 5 her change back to her, she suddenly took my hands and said in a thick Polish 6, “You are Polish! Look at those 7 Polish thumbs! They match mine!” She raised her hands and 8 her thumbs to me that 9 weathered and wrinkled, looked exactly like mine! She 10 my hands again and said, “Be11of those thumbs!”

    I'll never forget that 30-second 12 with a stranger that forever 13 my view of a part of me I once was 14 by and now accept. As I was eating dinner with my Samuel tonight, he looked down at my hand 15 on the table next to his and said, “Mommy! Our thumbs 16!” I smiled and answered, “Yes, they do, buddy! Those are strong Polish 17 you have! Take pride in them! Maybe someday you'll have a little boy or girl who will have the same thumbs!” I 18 my son never hides his thumbs like I did. I hope he'll be proud of their “unusualness” and the 19 behind them. He carries on a(n) 20 part of me and that for me will always be beautiful!

    People from every corner flooded into the streets that Christmas Eve. "Frosty the Snowman," and "Jingle Bells" 1 in stores; on the pavements, the street singers performed happily. Everyone, was 2 by someone else, delighted and cheerful. I was alone.

    As one of 8 kids of a Brazilian family, brought up in America's crowded apartment, I'd spent several years searching for aloneness. Now, 3, at 27, a college student after the 4 with my girlfriend, every cell inside me wanted to be alone, 5 not at Christmas. My family had 6 to Brazil and my friends were 7 with their own lives. Dusk was approaching, and the fact that I had to return to my 8 home made me sad. Lights from windows blinked, and I hoped someone would 9 from one of those homes to invite me inside with a Christmas tree decorated with shiny fake snow and 10presents.

    At a market, I felt more 11 when people were buying lots of goods, which 12 the gifts we received as children in my mind. I missed my family and wanted to cry for wanting to be alone and for having achieved it.

    Outside the church , a manger (小耶稣) had been set 13. I stood with others watching the scene, some of them 14 themselves, praying. As I walked home, I realized that leaving Brazil was still a 15experience as I struggled with whatI had become in 15 years in America. I'd mourned the 16, but for the first time, I recognized what I'd gained. I was independent, 17 and healthy. My life was still ahead, full of18.

    Sometimes the best gift is the one that you give yourself. That Christmas, I gave myself 19 for what I'd obtained up to now and promise to go forward. It is the best gift I've ever got, the one that I most 20.