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　　I was deep in thought preparing a lecture to be given that evening at college across town, when the phone rang．A woman I had 　　1　　 met introduced herself and said that she was the mother of a seven-year-old boy and that she was 　　2　　．She said that her doctor had advised her that discussing her coming death with her little boy would be too 　　3　　 for him, but somehow that didn't feel right to her．

　　　　4　　 that I worked with grieving① children, she asked for my advice．I told her that our heart was often smarter than our brain and that I thought she knew what would be best for her son．I also 　　5　　 her to attend the lecture that night since I was speaking about how children deal with 　　6　　．She said she would be there．

　　I wondered later if I would 　　7　　 her at the lecture, but my question was answered when I saw a 　　8　　 woman being half-carried into the room by two adults．I talked about the fact that children usually 　　9　　 the truth long before they are told and that they often wait until they feel adults are 　　10　　 to talk about it before sharing that concerns and questions．I said that children usually can deal with truth better than denial(否认)　　11　　 the denial is intended to protect them from pain．I said that respecting children meant 　　12　　 them in the family sadness, not shutting them out．

　　At the break, she hobbled(蹒跚)to me and 　　13　　 her tears she said,“I knew it in my heart, I just knew I should tell him．”She said that she 　　14　　 that night．

　　The next morning I received another phone call from her．I managed to 　　15　　 the story through her choked② voice．She awakened him when they got home the night before and 　　16　　 said,“Derek, I have something to tell you．”

　　He quickly interrupted③ her saying,“Oh, Mommy, is it now that you are going to 　　17　　 me that you are dying?”

　　She 　　18　　 him close and they both sobbed while she said,“Yes．”

　　After a few minutes the little boy went down(从怀里下来)．He said that he had 　　19　　 for her．In the back of one of his drawers(抽屉)was a dirty pencil box．　　20　　 the box was a letter．It said,“Good-bye, Mom．I shall always love you．”

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