Thanksgiving Day was fast approaching and many people were preparing for the holiday．Dora Smith gave her class an assignment－to draw a picture of something which they would like to be 1 ．
Miss Dora thought her students' family would 2 the holiday with turkey and other traditional food of the season and'-these would be the 3 of most of her students' art works．And so they were．
But Rueben' s picture was kind of 4 ．He drew a hand．Nothing else, just an empty hand, which soon aroused the 5 of his classmates．Whose hand could it be? One child 6 it was the hand of a fanner, because farmers 7 turkeys．Another suggested a police officer, because the police 8 and care for people．Still others guessed it was the hand of God, 9 God feeds us．Arid so actively the discussion went－until the teacher almost 10 the young artist himself．
When the students had begun other assignments．Miss Dora 11 at Rueben's desk, bent down, and asked him whose hand it was．Little Rueben looked away and said in a low voice, "It's 12 , teacher．"
Rueben' s words reminded Miss Dora of the times when she had 13 his hand and walked with him here or there．She remembered how 14 she had said, "Take my hand, Rueben, we'll go out-side．"Or, "Let me 15 you how to hold your pencil．" Or, "Let' s do this together．” Rueben was most thankful for his teacher' s 16 ．Brushing aside 17 , the．teacher went on with her work．
The story shows 18 gratitude．It suggests something related to teachers teaching and parents parenting and friends showing friendship, and how much it 19 to the Ruebens of the world．They might not always say 20 , but they' ll remember the hand that reaches out．