In 1980, Dad was diagnosed(诊断) with a serious disease. The disease 1 his memory and expression. Dad couldn't think or process information as fast as he 2 to. He grew to repeat the same words, which drove Mom 3 . On one of my visits home, Dad was sitting in his deck chair. I reached down to 4 and kiss him. "What's new? How are you?"
"Oh, you know, dear, the same. They treat me like a mushroom around here. They keep me in the dark." He laughed, proud of his 5 .
As I walked through the kitchen, I stopped to hug Mom. She 6 her head. "I heard your dad and those words! It's not his will. He just can't 7 himself." She stopped for a while before 8 . "He always says he's just like a mushroom…" She took a 9 breath and laughed. "Goodness," she said, "I'm going to be 10 the adversity(困境) for a long time."
11 , Dad never became difficult, or had personality changes. I often felt grateful for that. Dad loved and 12 everything Mom ever did for him as well, no matter how big or small.
Care-giving comes at a 13 . Mom was annoyed with Dad, but there was lots of love between them. Through the 21 years of care giving for Dad, there was 14 and tears, as well as weddings and babies. Without 15 , I'm not sure what would have happened to us.
