My mother’s loving hands
Night after night, she came to help me sleep, even long after my childhood years.
I don’t remember 16 it first started making me a little angry—my mom’s hands pushing my hair that way. But it really made me uncomfortable, for they 17 rough（粗糙的）against my young skin. Finally, one night, I 18 her, ‘‘Don’t do that any more. Your hands are too rough!” She didn’t say anything, 19 she never did it again.
Years later, I missed my mother’s 20 and her goodnight kiss on my face. I’m not a little girl any more. My mom is 21 her mid-seventies, and her rough hands are still doing things for my family and me.
Now my own children have 22 . It was late on Thanksgiving Eve. As I slept in my bedroom, a familiar hand ran across my 23 to push the hair from my head. Then a kiss, ever so softly, touched my brow（额头).
Taking my mom’s hand, I told her how 24 I was for that night I shouted at her. But my mom didn’t know what I was talking about. She had forgotten it long ago.
That night, I 25 with a new appreciation（感激）for my mother’s caring hands. And the guilt（内疚）that I had carried around for so long was nowhere to be found.