When Dekalb Walcott Ш was just 8 years old, his father, a Chicago fire chief, let him tag along on a call. Dekalb says a lot of kids idolized (崇拜) basketball player Michael Jordan when he was growing up in Chicago in the1990s. Not him.

“I wanted to be like Dekalb Walcott Jr, ”he says of his father. So when his dad asked if he wanted to go on that call with him when he was 8, Dekalb was excited. “I'm jumping up and down, saying, ‘Mom, can I go? Can I go?’”

The experience changed Dekalb's life, and he told his dad on a visit to StoryCorps. “My eyes got big the moment the alarm went off, ” the younger Dekalb says. “This is the life that I want to live someday. ”

Now 27, the younger Dekalb is living that life. He became a firefighter at 21 and went to work alongside his dad at the Chicago Fire Department. Before his father retired, the pair even went out on a call together-father supervising (监督)son.

“You know, it's everything for me to watch young row, ”his father says. But he also recalls worrying about one particular fire that his son faced.

“I received a phone call that night. And they said, ‘Well, your son was at this fire. ' I said, ‘OK, which way is this conversation going to go?'”Dekalb Walcott Jr. recalls.

“And they said, ‘But he's OK. And he put it out all by himself. Everybody here was proud of him. ’”

“And the word went around, ‘Who was out there managing that fire? Oh, that’s Walcott!That's Walcott up there!’So, you know, moments like that, it's heaven on earth for a dad. ”

Dekalb Walcott Jr. has retired. The younger Dekalb says he's proud of being a second-generation firefighter. “You know, it makes me look forward to fatherhood as well, because I'm definitely looking forward to passing that torch (火把) down  to my son. ”

   I grew up on a 10-acre farm in the small rural community of Catawissa，Missouri，as the sixth of seven children. My parents，Archie and Altha，often _________ during meals how everything on the table came from the _________.

Besides running the farm，Dad was also a _________. in the fall of 1970，he was working on a house when the ladder broke all at once. His back was fractured（折断）in two places and _________ needed rescue.

He stayed in the hospital for three weeks，_________his back to be treated correctly so the bones would _________ perfectly.

On Thanksgiving Day，Dad was still in the hospital. We always _________ pigs the day after the holiday so that we had enough pork _________for the next year，and that year my uncle _________ with a couple of cousins to help my three older brothers prepare our year's supply.

After Dad returned home，he was in a back brace and saddened for __________ to work. Worse still，the doctor told us his chance of complete recovery was __________. I was too young to realize our family had no __________ coming in as Christmas approached.

One night we heard a car coming up the long driveway. Always __________ about company（客人），we kids were curious about who was visiting.

Peggy Phelan was at the door，holding an envelope __________ with money which，according to her account，she had __________ in the community. And she was there to __________ it！

Dad tried to __________ but Peggy would have none of it. I can still hear her saying，"Archie，whenever someone's baler（压捆机）is broken，you bale their hay. Every time someone passes away，Altha is cooking. It's our __________."

That evening，I understood what being a good neighbor was，and that __________ my parents were good neighbors, their __________ would be paid back.

   The moment Aleeya opened her eyes from sleep, she knew it was Mom’s birthday. She _______ quickly and ran to the kitchen. There was no birthday _______. Then Aleeya went to the refrigerator, _______ its door and looked inside. There was no birthday cake in the refrigerator and no birthday cake _______.

She could not _______ that; she opened the door of the refrigerator again and put her head all the way in. Maybe there was a birthday cake _______ somewhere. But there was none, and she felt very _______. Just then she saw the apple butter-Mom’s ________! Aleeya took the jar of apple butter and ________ it on the table. She got a plate, a spoon, and a piece of bread. She opened the jar, took some apple butter and spread it on the bread the ________ Mom liked-not too thick, and evenly（均匀地）to the sides.

Aleeya became happy then and a gentle smile ________ over her face. It became bigger and bigger as she _____ to Mom’s room with the ________ bread. “Happy Birthday to Mom. Happy Birthday to Mom,” she _______.

Mom was ________. She took the plate and held her daughter in her arms.

“Pretend（假装）there are ________ ,” Aleeya said, “and blow them out.”

Mom closed her eyes and ________ a wish. Then she blew out the imaginary candles.

“Was it a good ________?” asked Aleeya.

“It was the best one ever in my life, my baby,”said Mom.

The Italian dinners we had every Sunday when I was a boy were feasts fit for a king. There 【小题1】（be）loaves of Italian bread ready to be eaten. They were great with butter and even 【小题2】（good）when you dipped them in the sauce（调味汁）. My grandma，【小题3】 we called“Nanny”，would always bake them a day ahead so they would be ready. I remember watching her hands make the dough（面团）. I would often ask to help only because I wanted to have 【小题4】 bite of the dough before she placed it in the pan to bake.

One day I 【小题5】（foolish）asked Nanny why she didn't just buy bread at the store 【小题6】（save）time. “Because it is not as good，”she said in 【小题7】（she）thick Italian accent. Then she laughed，smiled，and gave me a piece of bread to eat.

Nanny was right. Today I buy my bread at the store and it isn't as good. It is factory-made and lacks all the taste，【小题8】（warm），and love that Nanny put into hers. Store-bought happiness is a sad substitute for homemade joy. If you want lasting love，permanent peace，and 【小题9】（end）joy，then you will have to bake them 【小题10】your own.