It's said that you don't know a man until you walk a mile in his shoes. And you also don't know what it's like for old people to travel until you accompany（陪伴）one on a trip.

After flying with my elderly father from Washington, D.C.to L.A.in July, I began to realize that a companion has important tasks that can make a journey easier for old people. I booked nonstop tickets on JetBlue to avoid tiring, confusing connections, and we flew directly into Long Beach Airport. Even though my father could walk, I arranged with the airline for wheelchair assistance, which meant we got on board first.

When I took him back to the airport for his return flight to Washington, I got permission from JetBlue to wait with him at the gate instead of saying goodbye at the security checkpoint. I wished he'd had a first-class seat and access to a comfortable airline club. Better yet, I wished I had flown with him on both ways. As I watched the attendant wheel him to the lift that would take him from the tarmac（停机坪）to the plane, I felt like an anxious mom sending her child to school for the first time.

Things can go awry on a plane trip. And then there is a horrifying story about Joe and Margie. When they landed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, a wheelchair attendant met them to help with a connection. But somehow Margie, who had Alzheimer's disease, disappeared.

I didn't need to worry about my father's wandering away；at 82, his mind was sharper than mine. But his hearing was poor, so I worried about what would happen if he missed an important announcement.

Fortunately, everything went just fine. A good arrangement（安排）made the trip successful.

Next time I travel with a senior, I'll know better. I hope there will be a next time.

   When we got ready to go to the rink (溜冰场), Mom always helped me tie up my skates. Then she _____ her own. Mom and I had been coming to the rink every _____ since my lessons began. That was our deal. I went to _____ on Tuesdays, and we skated together on Sundays.

When we were ready to _____ on the ice, Mom took my hand and put an arm around my shoulder. I looked up at Mom and smiled. She seemed _____ but still smiled back. I took a short gliding (滑行) step, and she stepped with me, holding my hand tight. We went across the rink very _____ After a few minutes, we _____ in the center of the rink. I gently took my _____ back from Mom’s and glided slowly away.

While Mom stood still, I _____ the move my teacher taught me this week. I put one foot on the ______ , leaning forward a little. I slowly raised my back foot as ______ as I could behind me. I stopped and ______ a moment when some bigger kids skated quickly by. ^“OK, Mom. It’s ______ for you to skate alone,” I said. “In fact, there is ______ to be afraid of. Skating alone is no ______ than skating with me.”

Then I did what my teacher did when he was teaching a ______ skater. “ Watch my face, Mom,” I said. “Not your feet. Now, step.” She took a baby step and ______ We stayed until Mom could skate across the rink three times by herself. When she was ______ , she glided over to me and gave me a big hug. “I ______ you could do it,” I said.

She smiled and said, “I couldn’t have done it without my excellent ______.”

   Parents feel that it is difficult to live with teenagers. Then again, teenagers have_____feelings about their parents, saying that it is not easy living with them. According to a recent research, the most common ___between parents and teenagers is that regarding untidiness and daily routine tasks. On the one hand, parents go mad over ___rooms, clothes thrown on the floor and their children’s refusal to help with the ___. On the other hand, teenagers lose their patience continually when parents blame them for ___the towel in the bathroom, not cleaning up their room or refusing to do the shopping at the supermarket.

The research, conducted by St. George University, shows that different parents have different ___to these problems. However, some approaches are more ___than others. For example, those parents who yell at their children for their untidiness, but ___clean the room for them, have fewer chances of changing their children’s ___. On the contrary, those who let teenagers experience the ____of their actions can do better. For example, when teenagers who don’t help their parents with the shopping don’t find their favorite drink in the refrigerator, they are forced to ____their actions.

Psychologists say that ____is the most important thing in parent-child relationships. Parents should ____to their children but at the same time they should lend an ear to what they have to say. Parents may ____their children when they are untidy but they should also understand that their room is their own private space. Communication is a two-way process. It is only by listening to and ____each other that problems between parents and children can be settled.