For several years, we lived at the end of a long Texas country road. Every evening when I was away from home on business, my little boy would ask permission of his mother to take his black   16  and his daddy’s walking stick, to make the half-mile   17  from the house to the fence which   18  the beginning of the dirt driveway.

  One day, I was busy with my business and was   19  for about an hour, completely forgetting about the   20  little boy down the road who might be   21  for his daddy.

  On my way home, the rain was so thick that I could not   22  ten feet in front of me. All I could   23  was finishing my journey and getting out of the rain.   24  , the downpour began to abate(减弱). It was only a drizzle(细雨) by the time my car turned the last   25  and approached the final street between me and a warm home and nice meal.

    26 , I caught sight of my little boy, who was   27  an umbrella in one hand, a walking stick in the other, and was wearing the biggest and most beautiful smile ever to lighten the   28  of a little boy.

  As I stopped the car and   29  the door, he ran into my arms and held me long and hard. He was wet and   30  with cold, but he never   31 the rain, nor the hour-long wait. He simply said, “Daddy, I missed you. I am so glad you are home.”

Last year, we   32  to a wonderful new home provided for a special season in our lives. We no longer have a long country road.   33  , I have never forgotten the rainy day and the little boy and his dog. Often, perhaps a thousand times, that   34  has occurred in my mind. 35  all events in our lives, it happens once, and must be treasured.