We always celebrated my Dad’s November birthday on Thanksgiving Day, even after he entered a nursing home. As years went on, these events took on a(n)       meaning – a traditional birthday party for Dad, and a personal       for all that he had done for me in my life.
When we knew that it might be Dad’s      birthday, the whole family decided to come together for a huge birthday celebration at the nursing home. It was a crowded party ___all of us sitting around him. Dad was a wonderful       , and here was a biggest audience he’d ever had.
During a quiet moment, I announced that it was now Dad’s turn to       stories from us. I wanted everyone to tell Dad what we loved about him.      , we told stories from our hearts,       Dad listened with wet, flashing blue eyes. We       all kinds of lost memories – stories about when we were little, stories about when Dad was young and stories that are shared as family      . Even the littlest grandchildren couldn’t       to tell their grandfather why they loved him. For a man who had been kind to so many people in his life, here was our       to honor him.
A few months later, at Dad’s memorial service, we fully realized what we had given Dad that night. Those were the stories people normally tell at a      . They are told, then, full of tears, with the hope that the departed will somehow hear the outpouring of love._ _ we had given those loving       to Dad when he was      , told through laughter, accompanied by hugs and joy. I’m sure the stories and memories       over in his mind during his last months and days.
Words do     , and they are enough. We need to say them, to speak them      to the ones we love, for everyone else to hear. That’s the way to       love, and our chance to honor a person in life.

A．original B．modern C．complex D．double

A．congratulation B．wish C．thanking D．apology

A．late B．lost C．living D．last

A．with B．as C．though D．by

A．writer B．listener C．storyteller D．reader

A．hear of B．listen to C．make up D．talk about

A．Little by little B．Now and then C．All at once D．One after another

A．if B．because C．while D．before

A．recalled B．recorded C．regretted D．remembered

A．thoughts B．treasures C．possessions D．tales

A．afford B．help C．wait D．offer

A．chance B．task C．duty D．decision

A．burial B．party C．meeting D．wedding

A．And B．But C．So D．Or

A．kindness B．memories C．care D．hugs

A．healthy B．old C．young D．alive

A．went B．flew C．rolled D．came

A．benefit B．matter C．work D．mean

A．publicly B．properly C．consciously D．correctly

A．fall in B．search for C．hand over D．give back