Five months after my husband Steve died, I woke up one morning to the maddening sound of a leaking faucet（水龙头）. I knew it needed repairs badly, but itme so much just to think of it.

All ourlife, I was the "artist" bringing to our house much imagination. Steve was the"" one. He had a real gift for handling chores（家务活），me from unpleasant repair jobs.

But how could such a good man have his life cut short so suddenly! I had been so sad and angry that I completelythe house. That leaky faucet somehow awakened me to the fact that I now had tothe challenge of getting things fixed.

I got a workman named Ahmed. Entering the house, he stopped before a picture of Steve and me. "Doesn't your husbandthis kind of work?" he asked. "It's not hard."

"He died months ago. When he was alive, he did all the repair jobs." I said quietly. Ahmed looked at me, but he didn't reply. He fixed the faucet, adjusted the dishwasher door, and replaced a showerhead. Apparently he was gifted as Steve had been.

He did a(n)job. I asked him to name his fee. "No charge, Ma'am," he said. "My father died early, and the neighbors helped my family through."

By fixing a faucet, Ahmed mended my soul. Although I would sure carry the pain ofwith me along, Ahmed reminded me of the abundantin the world.

hurt

puzzled

cost

disappointed

separate

shared

spiritual

social

active

boring

careless

practical

attracting

sheltering

driving

prohibiting

ignored

hated

cleaned

missed

come up with

face up with

look forward to

step away from

begin

check

like

find

gratefully

firmly

bravely

wonderfully

strangely

innocently

painfully

sympathetically

terrible

excellent

important

dangerous

loss

failure

fear

regret

friendship

devotion

kindness

justice