I was 17 years old. Along with a dozen other boys I had made a long trip to Iowa in order to see a college that I was thinking of 1. While the trip had been 2 for the most part, now that I was there I was feeling depressed, alone, and isolated. I was missing my 3 and I was also missing the Appalachian mountains and the forests of my home. I loved 4 the leaves turned a thousand shades of green in the Spring and then 5 a sea of red, gold, and orange in the Fall.
Here in Iowa everything was 6. The grass looked burnt and brown. All that I could 7 was a mixture of corn, mud, and pigs. I walked outside the dormitory of the college and sat on an old stump. I closed my eyes and 8 being back home again. When I finally opened them, however, I saw something that touched my 9. It was a Prairie Sunset. It seemed to 10 the sky from horizon to horizon. Gold, red, purple and pink clouds all 11 together in a picture painted by Heaven's own hand. It was so huge that it took my breath away. It made our mountain sunsets seem 12 by comparison. I realized that this place too had its own special beauty. This place too was a part of nature's 13 .
Over the years to come I learned something else. Each of us has a special beauty 14 .
Each of us has our own 15 talents and abilities.
