.  My father was     1    a strong man who loved being active, but a terrible illness     2    all that away. Now he can no longer walk. And he must sit quietly in a chair all day. Even talking is     3    . One night, I went to visit him with my sisters, we started talking about life, and I told them about one of my     4    . I said that we must always give things up as we grow—our youth, our beauty, our friends—but it always     5    that after we give something up, we gain something new in its place. Then suddenly my father spoke up. He said, "But, Peter. I gave up     6    ! What did I gain?" I thought and thought, but I could not think of anything to say.
        7    he answered his own question: "I gained the love of my family." I looked at my sisters, and saw tears in their eyes, along with hope and thankfulness.
    I was also     8    by his words. After that, when I began to fell irritated at someone, I would remember his words and become     9    if he could replace his great pain with a feeling of love for others, then I should be able to give up my small irritations. In this way, I learned the power of acceptance from my father.
    Sometimes I     10    what other things I could learned from him if I had listened more carefully when I was a boy. For now, though, I am grateful for this gift.1.