Sometimes I really wonder whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy making money. They don’t act in the romantic ways that I read about in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you” is too much to say.
One day, my mother was sewing a quilt (缝被子). I quietly sat down beside her and     her.
“Mom, I have a question for you,” I said, breaking the   .
“What?” she asked, still doing her work.
“Is there love between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very     voice.
She stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. But then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt. I was very     then because I thought I had hurt her.
It seemed like a very long time before my mother started to speak again. “Susan,” she said thoughtfully, “look at this thread (线). Sometimes it    , but most of it disappears (消失) in the quilt. The thread makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can     be seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there. Love is inside (在里面).”
I listened carefully but I didn’t understand     the next spring. My father had a stroke (中风) and     walk by himself anymore. After that, my mother     my father walk outside every  day. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers and trees. The sun gently glistened through leaves. They two, hand in hand, walked slowly. To me, that was    picture in the world — that’s a picture of love.
They still don’t say “I love you” to each other. But I know they have deep love for each other. I used to think love meant flowers and sweet kisses. But actually, love is just a thread in the quilt.