Many people say their most painful (痛苦的) moments are saying goodbye to those they love. After
watching Cheryl, my good friend, staying with her sick mother for months, I think the most painful moments can be in the 1____to say goodbye.
Cheryl made the two-hour trip over and over to be with her mother. They 2____the long afternoons comforting (安慰) and sharing good memories. 3____her mother’s illness got worse and worse, Cheryl sat for hours in 4____by her mother’s bed. Each time she kissed her mother goodbye, her mother would tear up and say, “I’m 5____you drove so far and sat for so long but I didn’t even wake up to talk with you.”
Cheryl would tell her not to 6____and say it didn’t matter. Still her mother apologized (道歉) at each goodbye. One day Cheryl found a 7____to give her mother the same comfort her mother had given to her so many times.
“Mom, do you 8____when I joined the high school basketball team?”Cheryl’s mother nodded.“You’d drive so far and sit for so long but I even 9____had a chance to play. You waited for me after every game. Each time I felt bad and apologized to you for10____your time, you would say,‘I didn’t come to see you11____I came to see you.’”Cheryl gently took her mother’s hand.“Well, now I say the12____words to you. I didn’t come to see you talk; I came to see you.” Her mother13____and smiled as she went back to sleep.
Their afternoons together passed quietly into days, weeks, and14____ To the last day they15____each other in the stillness. The love between them was given and received just by seeing each other.