Our waitress looked even younger than my daughter．When she 1 the steamed fish, the dish tilted and the 2 splashed over my overcoat．My favorite overcoat!
3 sprang out of her chair and dashed to her．“It doesn’t matter．Never mind,” said my daughter, with a very 4 smile．
Looking at my 5 overcoat, the panicked waitress stammered,“I, I, let me wipe it off with napkin…．”
“It really doesn’t matter．Go on with your work and 6 it．”My daughter spoke in such a soft voice as if not the waitress 7 she had done wrong．A relaxed smile came back to 8 face．She said“Sorry” again and again and left．
My daughter stared at me quietly．Alas, her big eyes were covered with 9 !Slowly she began to tell me a story．
My daughter had 10 in London for three years．To develop her 11 , she didn’t go home over the years．Every vacation she would work and earn money for her backpack tours．My daughter was entirely a princess at home, but she worked as an odd-jobber in England．
She got into trouble on the first day．
Her task was to 12 cups．The cups were as thin as paper．She had a 13 time cleaning up piles of them．But before she could sit down and relax, her legs gave 14 and she fell onto the cups, which crashed to the 15 into pieces．
“Mum, at that time I really had the 16 of falling into the hell,” even now my daughter’s 17 trembled．“But, can you guess what the forewoman did to me?She walked up to me and asked concernedly, ‘Are you okay?’ Then she 18 and told other waitresses to clear the pieces．She didn’t blame it on 19 at all．”
“Since others could forgive your daughter’s fault, why can’t you treat others as your daughter and forgive theirs?”
I ran into a stranger as he passed by．“I’m so sorry!” was my reply．Then he said, “Excuse me too…I wasn’t even watching for you．” We were very 1 , this stranger and I．Then we went on our way after 2 goodbye．
But at 3 , a different story is told．How we treat our loved ones, young and old．Later in the kitchen, as I 4 the meal, my daughter walked up to me, very still．When I turned, I nearly knocked her down．“Get out of the way!” I 5 with a frown(皱眉)．She stepped away silently, with her little heart 6 ．I didn’t realize how rude I had been．
That night, when I lay 7 in bed, God’s quiet voice spoke to me and said, “While 8 with a stranger, you are calm and polite, but with those you love, you are QUICK to excite…Go and look around on the 9 floor, you’ll find some flowers there by the door．Those are the flowers she brought for you．She picked 10 up－pink, yellow, and your favorite blue．She stood there quietly and you never saw the tears in her 11 ”．
By this time, I felt sad and my own tears began to fall．I quietly went and knelt(跪)by her 12 ．“Wake up, my sweetheart,” I said．“Are these the flowers you 13 for me?” She smiled, “I found them out by the tree, I wrapped them in a napkin(纸巾), just for you．I knew you’d like them, especially the 14 ．” I said, “I am so sorry that I missed them today…And I 15 have shouted at you that way…”
16 , she said in a soft voice, “Mommy, that’s OK…I still love you anyway．” I hugged her and said, “I love you, too and I LOVE the flowers．”
Do you know that：if you die tomorrow, the 17 you are working for could easily replace you in a matter of days．But the family you leave 18 will feel the loss for the rest of their lives．And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into our 19 than into our families－an unwise investment(投资)indeed．
Remember that 20 ＝(F)ATHER＋(A)ND＋(M)OTHER＋(I)＋(L)OVE＋(Y)OU．
