Footprint of Our Adnascent Years

Don't forget the things you once owned. Treasure the things you can't get. Don't give up the things that belong to you and keep those lost things in memory.

曾經(jīng)擁有的，不要忘記。不能得到的，更要珍惜。屬于自己的，不要放棄。已經(jīng)失去的，留作回憶。

■轉(zhuǎn)眼青春的散場

Flying Youth

◎Doris

"Youth" seems to be fading away in my life, only leaving me some unforgettable and cherished memories. Something that we used to think would last forever in our lives, had actually vanished in a second before we realized it. Those who we used to deeply love or miss, have now become the most acquainted strangers. Our once pure and beautiful dream, is gradually fading away with time passing by ... This is youth, which is indeed an endless cycle from familiarity to strangeness, and from strangeness to familiarity, until the curtain of our youth is closing off little by little, along with our childish fantasies.

Human is such a strange animal that when we mostly did not cherish something until we lost it. We have gained a lot of things, but also lost a lot. What we want is merely getting the peace of mind. We care for children because they are the most pure-minded and kind-hearted among human beings. We are fond of staying with the old, because we can sense their inner peace from their serene faces. Maybe for them, the essence of life is to live it in the most comfortable way they deem. We may also love cats because their relaxation renders us a substantive sense of life.

美麗語錄

Life isn't always beautiful, but the struggles make you stronger, the changes make you wiser.

生活不一定是一直美好的，但是那些掙扎可以讓你變得更堅強，那些改變可以讓你變得更有智慧。

“青春”這個字眼仿佛在我的生命中消失了，只留下一些難忘的美好回憶。我們總以為青春是生命中永遠(yuǎn)不會消失的東西，可它總是在我們意識到之前便轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝了。那些我們曾經(jīng)深愛過或思念過的人，已經(jīng)變成了最熟悉的陌生人。我們曾經(jīng)擁有的純潔而美好的夢，隨著時間的推移，也慢慢地消失了……這就是青春，一個從熟悉到陌生，又從陌生到熟悉的無限循環(huán)，直到你的青春伴隨著孩童的幻想一點一點消失。

人類是種很奇怪的動物，我們總是在失去之后才懂得珍惜。我們獲得了許多，也失去了許多。我們渴望的僅僅是心靈的平靜。我們喜愛孩子，因為他們是最純真、最善良的人。我們享受和老人共度的時光，因為他們安詳?shù)哪橗嬜屇愀杏X到他們內(nèi)心的平靜。也許對他們來說，生活的本質(zhì)就是用最舒心的方式熱愛生活。也許我們也會喜歡貓，因為它們悠閑自在，有一份真實感。

There are many things in our lives that are easily gone or broken. Therefore, we will gradually learn to become apathetic（apathetic[,?p?'θtik]a. 冷淡的；無動于衷的） and indifferent towards everything. Maybe oftentimes, we are inclined to believe in ourselves rather than trust and rely on others, because in our lives, nothing will stay with us eternally and all will be gone one day eventually. Sometimes it is not the world that abandons us, but we who abandon the world. It can be evidenced by the fact that we have learnt to deny something habitually and therefore lost a lot of things. More often than not, we would believe that it is life that hurts us rather than believe that it is our personality flaw that hurts ourselves.

We are in strenuous（strenuous['strenju?s]a. 費勁的；奮發(fā)的；強烈的；緊張的） effort in changing our fate, bringing more happiness to people around us, realizing our dreams and reaching the love we are anticipating. However, we soon realize it is by no means easy to achieve any of them. It is a lifelong commitment and many things would alter with time and no one can guarantee eternity. Hence, silence becomes the best solution to all difficulties and hardships. Since we cannot make a for-sure promise, why do we still bother to boast too much about it? We still need to get down to our business with our own effort.

The flying youth has deposited too many things in our heart. Life should be treated with special care like an egg in your hands. We should treasure every moment of sincerity and gratefulness because the best things will be gone very easily. Try to forgive every lie simply because everyone has ever lied sometime. If you do not want to have tearing eyes, then just try to smile and hold a positive attitude towards your life every day!

生命里有太多容易消失和破碎的東西。因此，我們要逐漸學(xué)會淡然地面對一切。也許，我們時常更愿意相信自己，而非相信或依靠別人，因為在我們的生命中，沒有什么會永遠(yuǎn)追隨我們，最終，一切都將離我們而去。有時，不是世界拋棄了我們，而是我們拋棄了世界。我們學(xué)會了習(xí)慣性地說不，從而與許多東西擦肩而過。很多時候，我們寧愿相信是生活傷害了我們，也不愿相信是我們的個性缺失傷害了自己。

我們千方百計地想要改變命運，想要給周遭的人帶來更多的快樂，想要實現(xiàn)我們的夢想，想要擁有一份期盼已久的感情。然而我們很快就意識到，實現(xiàn)以上任何一點都不是件簡單的事。這是一件需要努力一輩子的事情，因為很多東西會隨著時間而改變，沒有人能夠保證永恒。所以，有的時候，沉默便是戰(zhàn)勝困難艱辛的最好方式。既然我們承諾不了，又何必多說呢？實現(xiàn)一切靠的還是自己的努力。

飛逝的青春留給我們太多的東西。生活就像是捧在手心里的雞蛋，需要特別的照料。我們要珍惜每一份真誠和感動，因為最好的東西總是很容易流逝。試著原諒每一個謊言吧！因為每個人都曾在某時說過謊。如果你不忍心看到一雙噙滿淚水的眼睛，那就微笑吧！抱著一種樂觀向上的態(tài)度對待生命中的每一天！

■生活的一課

A Lesson of Life

◎Ronald Reagan

"Everything happens for the best." my mother said whenever I faced disappointment. "If you can carry on, one day something good will happen. And you'll realize that it wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment."

Mother was right, as I discovered after graduating from college in 1932. I had decided to try for a job in radio, then work my way up to sports announcer. I hitchhiked（hitchhiked['hit??haikt]v. 搭便車（旅行）（hitchhike的過去式和過去分詞）） to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station—and got turned down every time.

In one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn't risk hiring inexperienced person—"Go out in the sticks and find a small station that'll give you a chance," she said.

I thumbed home to Dixon, Illinois. While there was no radio-announcing jobs in Dixon, my father said Montgomery Ward had opened a store and wanted a local athlete to manage its sports department. Since Dixon was where I had played high school football, I applied. The job sounded just right for me. But I wasn't hired.

美麗語錄

When your day has been like a hurricane, all you can do is looking forward to the rainbow that follows.

如果你的生活經(jīng)歷了一場暴風(fēng)雨，你要做的就是期待雨后的那縷彩虹。

每當(dāng)我遇到挫折時，母親就會說：“一切都會好的。只要你堅持下去，總有一天會有好事發(fā)生。你會認(rèn)識到，如果沒有以前的挫折，就不會有現(xiàn)在的一切。”

母親是對的，我是在1932年大學(xué)剛畢業(yè)的時候發(fā)現(xiàn)了這一點。我已決定試著在電臺找個事兒做，然后爭取做體育節(jié)目的播音員。我搭便車到了芝加哥，挨個敲電臺的門推銷自己——但每次都被拒絕了。

在一個播音室里，一位好心的女士告訴我，大的廣播電臺是不會冒險雇傭沒經(jīng)驗的新手的——“去鄉(xiāng)下找一家給你機會的小電臺吧。”她說。

我搭車來到我的家鄉(xiāng)，那是伊利諾伊州的迪克森。在迪克森當(dāng)時還沒有電臺播音員這樣的工作，父親說，蒙哥馬利·沃德開了一家新商店，想雇請一個本地的運動員管理店里的體育部。我中學(xué)時曾在迪克森打過橄欖球，所以我去申請了這份工作。工作聽起來挺適合我的，但是我沒被聘用。

My disappointment must have shown. "Everything happens for the best." Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to job hunt. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, a wonderful Scotsman named Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.

As I left his office, my frustration（frustration[fr?s'trei??n]n. 挫折，失敗，挫敗） boiled over. I asked a1oud, "How can a fellow get to be a sport announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station?"

I was waiting for the elevator when I heard MacArthur calling, "What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?" Then he stood me before a microphone and asked me to broadcast an imaginary game.

On my way home, as I have many times since, I thought of my mother's words: "If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment." I often wonder what direction my life might have taken if I'd gotten the job at Montgomery Ward.

我的沮喪心情一定表現(xiàn)出來了。“一切總會好的。”母親提醒我說。爸爸給了我一輛汽車找工作用。我試著到愛荷華州達(dá)文波特的WOC電臺去求職。那里的電臺節(jié)目總監(jiān)是一個很棒的蘇格蘭人，名叫彼得·麥克阿瑟，他告訴我他們已經(jīng)雇到播音員了。

離開他的辦公室時，我的挫折感達(dá)到了極點。我大聲地說：“一個連在電臺都找不到工作的家伙又怎么能成為體育節(jié)目的播音員呢？”

等電梯時，我聽到麥克阿瑟喊道：“你說什么體育？你懂橄欖球嗎？”接著他讓我站到麥克風(fēng)前面，請我解說一場想象中的比賽。

在回家的路上——以后也有很多次，我思考著母親的那句話：“只要你堅持下去，總要一天會有好事發(fā)生。如果沒有以前的挫折，就不會有現(xiàn)在的一切。”我常想，如果當(dāng)年我得到蒙哥馬利·沃德的那份工作，我的人生之路又會怎樣走呢？

■樹下的男孩

The Boy Under the Tree

◎David Coleman & Kevin Randall

In the summer recess between freshman and sophomore（sophomore['s?f?m?:]n.（大學(xué)，高中的）二年級學(xué)生） years in college, I was invited to be an instructor at a high school leadership camp hosted by a college in Michigan. I was already highly involved in most campus activities, and I jumped at the opportunity.

About an hour into the first day of camp, amid the frenzy of icebreakers and forced interactions, I first noticed the boy under the tree. He was small and skinny, and his obvious discomfort and shyness made him appear frail and fragile. Only 50 feet away, two hundred eager campers were bumping bodies, playing, joking and meeting each other, but the boy under the tree seemed to want to be anywhere other than where he was. The desperate loneliness he radiated almost stopped me from approaching him, but I remembered the instructions from the senior staff to stay alert for campers who might feel left out.

As I walked toward him, I said, "Hi, my name is Kevin, and I'm one of the counselors. It's nice to meet you. How are you?" In a shaky, sheepish voice he reluctantly answered, "Okay, I guess." I calmly asked him if he wanted to join the activities and meet some new people. He quietly replied, "No, this is not really my thing."

美麗語錄

You make millions of decisions that mean nothing and then one day your order takes out and it changes your life.

你每天都在做很多看起來毫無意義的決定，但某天你的某個決定就能改變你的一生。

在大一生活結(jié)束的那個暑假，我受邀到密歇根州一所大學(xué)主辦的高中領(lǐng)導(dǎo)才能夏令營擔(dān)任輔導(dǎo)員一職。我參加過許多大學(xué)舉辦的活動，于是便欣然接受了這次邀請。

夏令營的第一天，我花了一個小時來緩和氣氛，強迫大家進(jìn)行互動。那時我第一次注意到那個樹下的男孩。他又小又瘦，明顯的不安和羞怯讓他看起來更加弱不禁風(fēng)。離他只有50英尺遠(yuǎn)的地方，兩百個狂熱的露營愛好者正在蹦蹦跳跳地鬧著說著，互相結(jié)識。可那個樹下的男孩看樣子只要不待在這里，去哪兒都可以。他表現(xiàn)出令人絕望的孤寂，仿佛要拒我于千里之外。這時，我想起那些資深輔導(dǎo)員給我的提醒——給那些可能感到被忽略的隊員一些特殊關(guān)注。

我朝他走去，說道：“你好，我叫凱文，我是夏令營的輔導(dǎo)員。很高興見到你。你好嗎？”他用顫抖羞怯的聲音不情愿地回答道：“還好吧。”我冷靜地問他是否愿意參加一些活動，結(jié)交一些新朋友。他靜靜地答道：“不，這真的不是我想做的事情。”

I could sense that he was in a new world, that this whole experience was foreign to him. But I somehow knew it wouldn't be right to push him, either. He didn't need a pep talk; he needed a friend. After several silent moments, my first interaction with the boy under the tree was over.

At lunch the next day, I found myself leading camp songs at the top of my lungs for two hundred of my new friends. The campers eagerly participated. My gaze wandered over the mass of noise and movement and was caught by the image of the boy from under the tree, sitting alone, staring out the window. I nearly forgot the words to the song I was supposed to be leading. At my first opportunity, I tried again, with the same questions as before, "How are you doing? Are you okay?" To which he again replied, "Yeah, I'm all right. I just don't really get into this stuff." As I left the cafeteria, I realized this was going to take more time and effort than I had thought—if it was even possible to get through to him at all.

That evening at our nightly staff meeting, I made my concerns about him known. I explained to my fellow staff members my impression of him and asked them to pay special attention and spend time with him when they could.

The days I spend at camp each year fly by faster than any others I have known. Thus, before I knew it, mid-week had dissolved into the final night of camp, and I was chaperoning（chaperoning['??p?r?un??]v. 陪伴；護送（chaperon的現(xiàn)在分詞）） the "last dance". The students were doing all they could to savor every last moment with their new "best friends"—friends they would probably never see again.

As I watched the campers share their parting moments, I suddenly saw what would be one of the most vivid memories of my life. The boy from under the tree, who had stared blankly out the kitchen window, was now a shirtless dancing wonder. He owned the dance floor as he and two girls proceeded to cut a rug. I watched as he shared meaningful, intimate time with people at whom he couldn't even look just days earlier. I couldn't believe it was the same person.

我能感覺到，他處在一個嶄新的世界里，這里的一切對他來說都是陌生的。可是，我有時覺得強迫他也不是什么好辦法。他需要的不是鼓勵的話語，而是一位朋友。一段沉默過后，我和樹下男孩的第一次互動也宣告結(jié)束了。

第二天午餐的時候，我為兩百位新朋友高聲唱起了夏令營之歌。隊員們興高采烈地跟著我一起唱。我的目光穿過嘈雜流動的人群，停在了那個單獨坐在樹下凝望著窗外的男孩身上。我差點忘了正在領(lǐng)唱的歌詞。我又抓住機會試著再一次接近他，我像上一次那樣問道：“你感覺怎么樣？你還好嗎？”他還是那樣回答我：“是的，我還好。我只是不太想做這些事情。”從餐廳走出來的時候，我明白了，要想打開他的心扉，需要的時間和精力比我之前預(yù)計的還要多。

那天晚上，在全體工作人員例行會議上，我說出了對他的憂慮。我向我的同事說明了我對他的印象，并且請他們多留意他，多抽點時間陪他。

每一年我在夏令營的日子，比我所知道的其他任何時候都要過得快。于是不知不覺，周三成了此次夏令營的最后一夜，我陪伴著他們跳最后一支舞。學(xué)生們和新交的“摯友”——或許今后再也無法相見的朋友——盡情享受這最后時刻。

正當(dāng)我看著隊員們共享臨別時刻時，我突然看見了生命中最動人的一幕：那個曾經(jīng)茫然凝望著櫥窗外的樹下男孩，此時早已脫去外上衣，正在熱情地舞蹈著。當(dāng)他和兩個女孩一起熱舞時，他吸引了全場的目光。我看著他與人分享著意義深長又親密無間的時光。可就在幾天前，他甚至都不愿意看這些人一眼，我簡直不敢相信這是同一個人。

In October of my sophomore year, a late-night phone call pulled me away from my chemistry book. A soft-spoken, unfamiliar voice asked politely, "Is Kevin there?"

"You're talking to him, who's this?"

"This is Tom Johnson's mom. Do you remember Tommy from leadership camp?"

The boy under the tree. How could I not remember?

"Yes, I do." I said. "He's a very nice young man. How is he?"

An abnormally long pause followed, then Mrs. Johnson said, "My Tommy was walking home from school this week when he was hit by a car and killed." Shocked, I offered my condolences（condolences[k?n'd?ul?nsiz]n. 吊唁；慰問（condolence的名詞復(fù)數(shù)）） .

"I just wanted to call you," she said, "because Tommy mentioned you so many times. I wanted you to know that he went back to school this fall with confidence. He made new friends. His grades went up. And he even went out on a few dates. I just wanted to thank you for making a difference for Tom. The last few months were the best few months of his life."

In that instant, I realized how easy it is to give a bit of yourself every day. You may never know how much each gesture may mean to someone else. I tell this story as often as I can, and when I do, I urge others to look out for their own "boy under the tree".

大二那年10月的一個深夜，我放下手中的化學(xué)書，接了一個電話。聽筒里傳來一個陌生、溫柔、彬彬有禮的聲音：“您是凱文嗎？”

“我是。請問哪位？”

“我是湯姆·約翰遜的媽媽。您還記得參加過領(lǐng)導(dǎo)才能夏令營的湯米嗎？”

那個樹下男孩，我怎么會不記得呢？

“當(dāng)然，”我說，“他是個非常不錯的年輕人。他還好嗎？”

很長的停頓后，約翰遜夫人接著說：“這周我的湯米在回家的路上被車撞了，就那樣走了。”我震驚極了，并請她節(jié)哀。

“我只是想打個電話給你，”她說，“因為湯米曾多次向我提起你。我想讓你知道，這個秋天，他信心滿滿地回到學(xué)校，結(jié)交了新朋友，學(xué)習(xí)成績也提高了，甚至還和女孩子約會了幾次。我想謝謝你，是你改變了湯姆。這最后幾個月是他生命里最燦爛的時光。”

剎那間，我明白了：每天奉獻(xiàn)一點點是件很容易的事，可你也許永遠(yuǎn)不會知道，每一個善意的小舉動會給別人帶來多大的影響。我無數(shù)次說起這個故事，我這么做就是為了讓更多的人留意他們自己的那個“樹下男孩”。

■與死神擦肩而過

Brush Past the Death

◎Steve Jobs

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago, I was diagnosed（diagnosed['dai?gn?uzd]v. 診斷（diagnose的過去式和過去分詞）） with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for preparing yourself to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

美麗語錄

Never underestimate your power to change yourself.

永遠(yuǎn)不要低估你改變自我的能力！

我17歲的時候，讀過一句格言，好像是這樣說的：“如果你把每一天都當(dāng)作最后一天去生活的話，總有一天，你會覺得自己這么做是正確的。”這句話給我留下了深刻的印象。從那以后，在過去的33年中，每天清晨我都會對著鏡子問自己：“如果今天是我生命中的最后一天，那我還會去做原先計劃好的那些事情嗎？”可連續(xù)多日我得到的答案都是“不會”。于是，我明白我該做些改變了。

時刻提醒自己我即將死去，是幫我做出人生許多重大抉擇的重要工具。因為幾乎所有的一切——一切外來的期望、一切驕傲、一切關(guān)乎面子和失敗的恐懼——在死亡面前，這些東西都將消失殆盡，留下的只是真正重要的東西。時刻提醒自己我即將死去，是不讓自己陷入患得患失的最好辦法。因為此時的你已然一無所有了，就沒有理由不順從你的心。

大約在一年前，我被診斷出患有癌癥。我在早上7點半做了掃描，掃描結(jié)果清楚地顯示我的胰腺上長了一個腫瘤。當(dāng)時，我甚至都不知道胰腺是什么東西。醫(yī)生很肯定地告訴我，我得的是一種基本上無法治愈的癌癥。我活在世上的日子可能不會超過3—6個月。我的醫(yī)生建議我回家，安排好后事，這是醫(yī)生們專門對等死的病人說的話。這也就意味著，你要把本來打算在未來10年內(nèi)對孩子們說的話，在這幾個月里說完；意味著你要把一切安排妥當(dāng)，讓你的家人盡可能地輕松些；意味著你就要說“再見”了。

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated（sedated[si'deitid]v. 使昏昏入睡，使鎮(zhèn)靜（sedate的過去式和過去分詞）） , but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

那一整天我都在想著我的診斷結(jié)果。那天夜里晚些時候，我做了活組織切片檢查。醫(yī)生把一個內(nèi)窺鏡從我的喉嚨伸進(jìn)去，通過我的胃，進(jìn)入我的腸子，然后用一根針刺進(jìn)我的胰腺，在腫瘤上取出一些細(xì)胞。我被注射了鎮(zhèn)靜劑。可當(dāng)時也在場的妻子后來告訴我，當(dāng)醫(yī)生用顯微鏡觀察這些細(xì)胞時，突然大叫了起來。原來我患的是一種罕見的、可以用手術(shù)治愈的胰腺癌。于是，我做了手術(shù)，現(xiàn)在痊愈了。

那就是我和死神擦肩而過的一次，我希望這也是接下來幾十年最接近死神的一次。以前死亡對我來說只是一個有用卻純粹是理論上的概念，可有了這次經(jīng)歷之后，我可以更加確信地對你們說：

沒有人會想死，即使人們想上天堂，也不會為了去那兒而去死。然而，死亡是我們的最終歸宿，沒有人能夠逃脫。也許就該如此，因為死亡是生命唯一的最好發(fā)明。它是生命不斷變化的原動力。它除舊呈新。如今，你們是新人，然后不久之后，你們也會慢慢變老，接著被淘汰。我很抱歉如此戲劇性，但事實就是如此。

你的時間有限，所以不要把時間浪費在重復(fù)別人的生活上。不要受教條的束縛，不然你就只能按照別人的思想生活。不要讓別人紛亂的意見淹沒你內(nèi)心的呼聲。最重要的是，要勇于聽從你內(nèi)心的直覺。因為內(nèi)心的直覺已然知道你想要成為什么樣的人。其他的一切都是次要的。

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out（drown out 壓過，蓋過） your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

■成長的樹根

Growing Roots

◎Philip Gulley

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than circumstances warranted.

When Dr. Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life's goal was to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant husbandry. He came from the "No pain, no gain" school of horticulture（horticulture['h?:tik?lt??]n. 園藝；園藝術(shù)） . He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them, and that if you water them, each successive tree generation will grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out the weenie trees early on.

He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren't watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

美麗語錄

Don't pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.

不要祈禱生活的舒適，應(yīng)該祈禱自己變得更加堅強。

在我還是孩子的時候，我有一個老鄰居叫吉布斯醫(yī)生。他不像我認(rèn)識的任何一個醫(yī)生。我們在他的院子里玩耍，他從來不罵我們。我記得他是一個非常和藹的人。

吉布斯醫(yī)生不去拯救生命的時候，就會去種植樹木。他的住所占地10英畝，他的人生目標(biāo)就是將它變成一片森林。

這個好心的醫(yī)生對于植物畜牧業(yè)有一番有趣的理論。他來自一個“不勞無獲”的園藝學(xué)校。他從不給他新種的樹澆水，這顯然有悖于常理。有一次我問為什么，他說澆水會寵壞了它們，如果澆水，每一棵成活的樹的后代會變得越來越嬌弱。所以，你必須讓它們的生長環(huán)境變得艱苦些，盡早淘汰那些弱不禁風(fēng)的樹。

他還告訴我用水澆灌的樹的根是如何淺，而那些沒有澆水的樹的根就必須深深扎進(jìn)泥土深處搜尋水分。我將他的話理解為：深根是十分寶貴的。

所以他從不給他的樹澆水。他種了一棵橡樹，每天早上，非但不給它澆水，還用一張卷起的報紙抽打它。“啪！噼！砰！”我問他為什么這樣做，他說這是為了引起樹的注意。

So he never watered his trees. He'd plant an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he'd beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention.

Dr. Gibbs went to glory a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I'd watched him plant some 25 years ago. They're granite strong now. Big and robust. Those trees wake up in the morning and beat their chests and drink their coffee black.

I planted a couple of trees a few years back. Carried water to them for a solid summer. Sprayed them. Prayed over them. The whole nine yards. Two years of coddling has resulted in trees that expect to be waited on hand and foot. Whenever a cold wind blows in, they tremble and chatter their branches. Sissy trees.

Funny things about those trees of Dr. Gibbs'. Adversity and deprivation（deprivation[?depri'vei??n]n. 剝奪；免職；損失） seemed to benefit them in ways comfort and ease never could.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I've been thinking that it's time to change my prayer.

This change has to do with the inevitability of cold winds that hit us at the core. I know my children are going to encounter hardship, and I'm praying they won't be naive. There's always a cold wind blowing somewhere.

So I'm changing my prayer. Because life is tough, whether we want it to be or not. Too many times we pray for ease, but that's a prayer seldom met. What we need to do is pray for roots that reach deep into the Eternal, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be swept asunder.

在我離開家兩年后，吉布斯醫(yī)生就去世了。每一次，我走過他的房子時，就會看看那些25年前我曾看著他種下的那些樹。如今它們已像巖石般硬朗了。枝繁葉茂，生機勃勃。這些樹在早晨醒過來，拍打著胸脯，啜飲著苦難的汁水。

幾年前，我也曾種下兩三棵樹。整整一個夏天我都堅持為它們澆水。給它們噴殺蟲劑，為它們祈禱。整整九平方碼大的地方。結(jié)果，兩年的溺愛使這兩棵樹弱不禁風(fēng)。每當(dāng)寒風(fēng)吹起，它們就顫抖起來，枝葉直打顫。嬌里嬌氣的樹。

吉布斯醫(yī)生的樹真是有趣。逆境和折磨帶給它們的益處，似乎是舒適和安逸永遠(yuǎn)都無法給予的。

每天晚上睡覺前，我都要看看兩個兒子。我俯視著他們那幼小的身體，生命就在其中起落沉浮。我經(jīng)常為他們祈禱，祈禱他們的生活能一帆風(fēng)順。但近來，我想是時候該改變我的祈禱詞了。

這種改變與寒風(fēng)將不可避免地直擊我們的要害。我知道我的孩子們會遇到困難，我祈禱他們不會幼稚而脆弱。某些地方總會有寒風(fēng)吹過。

所以，我改變了我的祈禱詞。因為無論我們愿不愿意，生活總是艱難的。我們已祈禱了太多的安逸，卻少有實現(xiàn)。我們所要做的是祈禱深植我們的信念之根，這樣，當(dāng)雨落風(fēng)吹時，我們就不會被傷害。

■別讓蠟燭熄滅

Let the Candle Relight

◎Odain

A man had a little daughter—an only and much-loved child. He lived for her—she was his life. So when she became ill, he became like a man possessed, moving heaven and earth to bring about her restoration to health.

His best efforts, however, proved unavailing（unavailing[?n?'ve?l??]a. 徒勞的，無用的） and the child died. The father became a bitter recluse, shutting himself away from his many friends and refusing every activity that might restore his poise（poise[p??z]n. 泰然自若；自信；體態(tài)；姿態(tài)） and bring him back to his normal self. But one night he had a dream.

He was in heaven, witnessing a grand pageant of all the little child angels. They were marching in a line passing by the Great White Throne. Every white-robed angelic child carried a candle. He noticed that one child's candle was not lighted. Then he saw that the child with the dark candle was his own little girl. Rushing to her, he seized her in his arms, caressed her tenderly, and then asked, "How is it, darling, that your candle alone is unlighted?"

名人語庫

There is no such thing as darkness; only a failure to see.

~Malcolm Muggeridge

沒有黑暗這種東西，只有看不見而已。

——馬爾科姆·馬格里奇

一個男人有一個小女兒——他唯一的、深深愛著的孩子。他為了她而活著——她是他的整個生命。所以，當(dāng)女兒生病時，他像瘋了似的竭盡全力想讓她恢復(fù)健康。

他盡了最大的努力，但是一切都無濟于事，女兒還是死了。父親變得痛苦遁世，遠(yuǎn)離了許多朋友，拒絕參加一切能使他恢復(fù)平靜、回到正常自我的活動。然而有一天晚上，他做了一個夢。

他來到了天堂，看到了一場盛大的小天使盛會。他們走成一條直線，經(jīng)過白色大寶座。每個白衣小天使都拿著一支蠟燭。他注意到，有一個小天使的蠟燭沒有點亮。然后，他看到那個蠟燭滅了的小女孩正是他的女兒。他沖過去，一把把她摟在懷里，溫柔地?fù)崦缓髥柕溃骸坝H愛的，怎么會這樣，只有你的蠟燭沒有點亮？”

“爸爸，他們經(jīng)常重新點亮它，只是你的眼淚總是把它熄滅。”

"Daddy, they often relight it, but your tears always put it out."

Just then he awoke from his dream. The lesson was crystal clear, and its effects were immediate. From that hour on he was not a recluse, but mingled freely and cheerfully with his former friends and associates. No longer would his darling's candle be extinguished by his useless tears.

Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened.

就在這時，他從夢中醒來。這一課的啟發(fā)是顯而易見的，而且立竿見影。從那個時刻起，他不再把自己封閉起來，而是自由自在、輕松愉快地回到他從前的朋友和同事中間。寶貝女兒的蠟燭再也沒有被他無用的淚水熄滅過。

不要因為結(jié)束而哭泣，微笑吧，為你的曾經(jīng)擁有。

■記憶留痕

Sometimes Happiness

Requires Nail Holes in Life

◎Roger Dean Kiser

Finally, for the first time in my life, I was going to move into brand-new house and it was an absolute beauty.

I spent hours upon hours walking up and down the hallway just looking at that sunken living room. I had never actually seen one of those before and always thought they were only for rich people. It sure made me proud to now have one for my very own. I smiled real big and then put a foot down onto the first step, which led down onto the beautifully carpeted living room. Then I carefully looked to make sure I did not get any dirt on the golden colored carpet. Then I removed my shoes and walked all around the living room, feeling the soft, new, thick carpet beneath my feet.

I met the real estate agent for the last time, signed the final papers and he handed me the keys. I jumped into my car and rushed as fast as I could to my rented mobile home to get the family and start the moving-in process. That was a very good day in my life, because no one in my family would ever have to live on the streets like I did as a young boy when running away from that abusive Florida orphanage. This house would be kept in brand-new condition, and would last forever and ever—so that all my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren would always have a nice, new looking place to live, no matter what.

名人語庫

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it.

~Irving Berlin

生活有百分之十在于你如何塑造它，有百分之九十在于你如何對待它。

——歐文·柏林

終于，我人生中第一次即將要搬進(jìn)新家，這所房子絕對稱得上美妙至極。

我來來回回地在走廊上溜達(dá)了幾個小時，就為了觀看那沉降式的客廳。我以前從沒見過這些，也總認(rèn)為那只是屬于有錢人的。現(xiàn)在，我真的感到自豪，因為我也擁有了這樣一個客廳。我笑容滿面，伸出一只腳踏在第一級臺階上，臺階下面是鋪著精美地毯的客廳。我小心翼翼地觀看著，確保我沒有把一丁點塵土留在金色的地毯上。然后我脫掉了鞋子，在客廳里來回地走，盡情感受著腳底下那柔軟、厚實的新地毯。

我與房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀(jì)人見了最后一次面，簽署了最終的文件后，他把房子鑰匙遞給了我。我跳進(jìn)車?yán)铮梦易羁斓乃俣锐偟轿易鈦淼姆课荩ツ抢锝游业募胰耍㈤_始著手搬家。 這是我生命中特別美好的一天，因為從此以后，我的家人再也不會像童年的我那樣流落街頭——小時候，我在逃離那個備受虐待的佛羅里達(dá)孤兒院后，就住在大街上。我要讓這所房子始終保持嶄新的狀態(tài)，讓它永久長存——這樣一來，不管怎樣我所有的孫子和曾孫們，就可以一直住在一個嶄新而漂亮的地方。

That held true year after year and about five years later, we sold that immaculate house for top dollar. There was not a spot or smear or hole anywhere in that beautiful house. Not even on the walls could you find a small nail hole that would have held a picture. I was supposed to meet with the real estate agent who was selling our house later that evening and when I arrived, I was surprised to find the new owners of the house standing in the driveway. I parked my car, walked up and began talking with the older couple.

"This house is in perfect condition," said the old man.

"Perfect in every way. Not even a nail hole in any of the wall." I told him proudly.

"It's really too bad that nobody lived here," said the old woman.

"I lived here for five whole years." I said with a great big smile on my face.

"No. You didn't live here for five years. You just stayed here for five years," said the old lady.

All the way home I thought about what she said. What did she mean? How could they not be happy about buying a house in perfect condition and without any holes in the walls? I was very puzzled. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I quickly pulled over to the side of the road and just sat there thinking. The old lady was absolutely right.

Just because you stay in a house, it doesn't mean you really lived in it. Not unless you put your heart into it, enjoy it and do the things that make you happy while you are there—like walking into the living room and seeing pictures of the kids and the smiling faces of the grandchildren or watching them yelling their little lungs out under the sprinkler in your front yard, and yes maybe even a picture of the old dog who decided to go to the bathroom on that beautiful carpet.

年復(fù)一年，事情就如我想象中一樣發(fā)展著。大約五年后，我們以最高的價格賣掉了這所完美的房子。這所美麗的房子里沒有留下任何一處斑點、污漬或是小洞，甚至你在墻上也找不到一個曾因為掛畫而留下的小釘孔！那晚稍晚些時候，我約了正在幫我們賣房子的房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀(jì)人見面，當(dāng)我到達(dá)的時候，驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)這所房子的新主人正站在車道上。我停下車子，走上前去，開始和這對老夫婦攀談起來。

“這所房子堪稱完美。”老先生說。

“一切都非常完美。甚至連任何一面墻上都找不到一個釘孔。”我很自豪地告訴他。

“這真是太糟糕了，沒有人住過！”老太太說。

“我在這里住了整整五年呢。”我大笑著告訴她。

“不，你并沒有在這里‘住’了五年，你只是在這里‘待’了五年而已。”老太太回應(yīng)道。

回家的路上，我一直在思索著老太太的話。她說的是什么意思呢？他們能買到條件如此完美、墻上連一個小洞都沒有的房子，怎么可能不高興呢？我百思不得其解。突然，答案像磚頭一樣砸醒了我。我趕緊把車停在路邊，坐在那里思考起來。老太太的話是完全正確的！

僅僅因為你搬進(jìn)了一所房子里，并不意味著你真正在那里安家。除非你住在房子里的時候，全身心投入、樂在其中，并做著令自己快樂的事情——比如，走進(jìn)客廳，看看墻上那些記錄著子女孫輩們燦爛笑容的照片，或者看看他們在前院的噴水頭下扯著嗓子大喊的照片，甚至還可以看看一張老狗在那美麗的地毯上撒尿的照片。

I sat there alone biting my bottom lip and feeling very much ashamed of what I had done by having lost five years of my life, not to mention what I had taken from my family without even realizing it. Living really is much more than just remembering yesterday with only your mind. It is walking into your home and living for today with your heart and your eyes. Those holes in the wall, when all the furniture is gone and the house is completely bare, are memory holes and without any memories "You didn't really live there. You just stayed there."

Today, our home in Brunswick, Georgia has so many darn pictures of kid, grandkid, friends and dogs on the walls that it might collapse one day. And if it does that will be very sad for me. But today I'm living a happy life with everything around me.

我獨自坐在那里，緊咬著下唇，感到很慚愧，我浪費了生命中的五年時光，更不用說我從家人那里剝奪了許多快樂，而自己卻根本沒意識到。生活，不僅僅意味著將昨日的印記留在腦海里，還意味著走進(jìn)家里，用你的真心、你的雙眼度過每一個今天。有一天，當(dāng)所有的家具都移走了，這所房子也變得空蕩蕩時，房子墻上的那些孔洞就是記憶的痕跡。沒有任何記憶，那就會像老太太所說的“你并不曾真正‘住’在那里，你只是在那里‘待’過而已。”

現(xiàn)在，我們的新家位于佐治亞州的布倫瑞克。家里的墻上掛滿了照片，有子女們的、孫輩的、朋友的，還有小狗的，我真擔(dān)心釘了那么多釘子后，墻壁也許有一天會坍塌。如果真的發(fā)生那樣的事，我會非常傷心的。但是現(xiàn)在，我和我身邊的所有人都過得非常快樂。

■我的動力

My Motivation

◎Erin E.

I used to feel like my life was stressful and hard until a life-changing event happened to my mom's best friend, Anna. She was put in a life-or-death situation and remained strong. Her strength made me want to be like that in my daily life.

One night Anna was coming out of her office building when a man attacked her. He beat her with a rock, took her car keys, and threw her in her car. She told me that she was praying for God to help her the whole time. She knew she would not give up easily, but she also knew they were driving toward the river. The man didn't stop until he absolutely had to. With God's strength, she jumped out of the car and got help.

Anna is not only my mom's friend but also like another mother to me and my sister and brother. When we heard about the attack, we were devastated but so relieved she was alive. My mom became more protective of me, always wanting to know where I was going. I'd never worried about someone attacking or kidnapping me, but now I am more aware of my surroundings and realize that not everyone is as nice as I might think.

名人語庫

Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.

~Clare Boothe Luce

勇氣是一架梯子，其他美德全靠它爬上去。

—— C.B.盧斯

我以前覺得我的生活充滿了壓力和困難，直到我媽媽最好的朋友——安娜身上發(fā)生了一件改變?nèi)松氖隆谝粋€生死攸關(guān)的境況下，她還仍然保持著堅強。她的力量讓我想在日常生活中也變得一樣堅強。

一天晚上，安娜走出辦公大樓，一個男人襲擊了她。他用一塊石頭打她，搶走了她的車鑰匙，并把她扔在她的車上。她告訴我說，她從頭到尾一直在祈禱著上帝能給予幫助。她知道她不會輕易放棄，但她也知道他們正在朝河邊駛?cè)ァ＿@個男人不到必須停車時是不會停下來的。在上帝的力量下，她從車?yán)锾顺鰜恚玫搅藥椭?

安娜不僅是我媽媽的朋友，對我和我的弟弟妹妹們來說，也像是我們的另一個媽媽。當(dāng)我們聽說了她遭受的攻擊時，簡直驚呆了，但是她還活著，我們也就放下心來。我媽媽變得更加保護我，時時刻刻都要知道我去了哪里。我從未擔(dān)心過有人攻擊或綁架我，但是現(xiàn)在我更清楚我身邊的處境，而且我也意識到，不是每個人都像我想象得那樣好。

Anna stayed strong and optimistic during one of the worst possible situations. Many would have given up, but she didn't. I have so much respect for her and wish I could be more like her. I have never been through anything like that, but seeing how she responded gave me a desire to be strong and optimistic in my life.

Now, when I think of stress and difficulties, it is not about little everyday problems. Anna truly inspired me not to worry about the small things. She may not know it, but she made me want to be a better person. That is what matters to me: motivation to become a stronger, better individual.

安娜在最惡劣的情況下，始終保持著堅強、樂觀的態(tài)度。許多人可能會放棄，但是她沒有。我對她是如此尊重，而且希望我能更像她。我從來沒有經(jīng)歷過像那樣的事情，但看到她的經(jīng)歷所給予我的期望就是，讓我在生活中變得堅強、樂觀。

現(xiàn)在，每當(dāng)我想起壓力和困難時，它不是關(guān)于日常生活的小問題。安娜真正鼓舞我的是不要擔(dān)心小事情。她可能不知道，是她讓我想成為更好的人。這是我所在乎的：擁有動力，成為一個更強大、更完善的人。

■一次難忘的邂逅

An Encounter

◎Megan C

As the hot tears rolled down her cheeks, I knew I had asked the wrong question. The words reverberated in my mind: widowed or divorced? I looked into the lady's eyes, now dampened with the miserable tears my words had caused.

"Well, you could call me widowed," she replied. "My husband died five months ago today."

Her face, a haunted mask as she looked away, searched the racks as if he might appear. Tears again welled in her eyes, when she didn't find him, and she was unable to blink them back.

"I am so sorry," I mumbled. "I needed it to fill out your credit application." I wished I had allowed her to check the box herself. I knew well enough that words spoken aloud hold more pain than those unspoken.

"Don't worry about it, honey," she soothed. "If I never thought about it, I would not remember the love and the memories we shared. Even after 50 years of marriage, each passing moment would bring a deeper meaning to the word love. Now, trust me, I know how foolish that sounds. We had our share of challenging times, but in the end none of that mattered."

名人語庫

The miracle is this—the more we share, the more we have.

~Leonard Nimoy

神奇的是我們分享得越多，我們擁有的也越多。

——倫納德·尼莫伊

當(dāng)熱淚順著她的臉頰流下來時，我知道我問錯了問題。這個詞在我心中回響：喪偶還是離婚？我看著那位女士的眼睛，現(xiàn)在我的話引起了她悲痛的淚水。

“好吧，你可以說我寡居，”她回答說，“今天是我丈夫去世后的整整五個月。”

她的臉現(xiàn)出愁容，像尋找鬼魂一般向四處搜尋，仿佛他可能會出現(xiàn)。當(dāng)她沒有找到他時，眼淚在她的眼中再一次涌出，她眨著眼睛，無法把眼淚憋回去。

“很抱歉，”我咕噥著，“我需要信息來填寫你的信貸申請表。”我真希望我能讓她自己檢查表格。我知道得很清楚，大聲說出來比沉默不語讓人更加痛楚。

“別擔(dān)心，親愛的，”她安慰我道，“如果我從沒想過這些，我就不會記得我們曾共有的愛和回憶。即使在我們的50年婚姻之后，每一時刻還是會賦予愛這個詞更深層的含義。現(xiàn)在，相信我——我知道這聽起來多么愚蠢——我們曾共同承擔(dān)艱難困苦，但最終都挺過來了。”

Unsure of what to say, I laughed nervously, not yet aware of the impact those words would have on me. I picked up the phone to relay her information; words hung in the air. My mind was not focused on the current task, and I was unsuccessful in my first few attempts. After finally completing the credit application, I turned to find myself riveted to the lady's face again.

Her eyes began to sparkle as she proceeded in a heart-to-heart. I couldn't believe someone could open up to a perfect stranger, but it was not my place to criticize. I enjoyed listening to her just as much as she appreciated having somebody to talk to.

"Have you ever been married?" she asked.

I couldn't help but laugh. I hadn't even thought about getting married. Besides, I looked nothing like a married woman—my braces stuck out from my mouth, and my frizzy hair was thrown back into a messy bun.

"Ah, no." I replied. "I'm only 16."

"16?" she murmured, eyes alight with the mystery of shrouded memories. "That's a great age, an age of lessons. There's so much worth learning."

She then spoke in a hushed whisper, sharing the one lesson that I will carry with me the rest of my life. "Never, ever take anyone for granted. If you are in love with someone, let it be known as often as you feel it. Otherwise, life may pass you by. Don't spend your life angry. The ridiculous arguments you think are important won't even be remembered in a short time."

Then, she hugged me and thanked me for letting her talk. As she turned to walk away, I could see that tears still hung in her eyes, but the smile that lit her face was amazing. After she left, I stood there replaying the conversation in my mind and letting her words sink in. Never, ever take anyone for granted. If you are in love with someone, let it be known as often as you feel it.

不知道該說什么，我緊張地笑了笑，沒有意識到這些話會對我產(chǎn)生影響。我拿起電話來匯報她的信息；言語就這樣回蕩在空中。我的頭腦無法專注于當(dāng)前的任務(wù)，這是我第一次嘗試好幾次專注卻都失敗了。在最后完成信貸申請程序后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己再一次不自覺關(guān)注起那位女士的臉。

在她繼續(xù)和我談心時，她的眼睛開始閃耀著光亮。我不敢相信有人會對一個完全陌生的人打開心扉。但這不是我該指責(zé)的地方。我很喜歡聽她說話，正如她十分感激有人可以聆聽她的言語一樣。

“你結(jié)婚了嗎？”她問。

我忍不住笑了。我還沒想過結(jié)婚。此外，我一點都不像已婚女人——我的牙套從我嘴里露出來，我卷曲的頭發(fā)盤成一個凌亂的髻。

“啊，沒有。”我回答說，“我還只有16歲。”

“16歲嗎？”她喃喃地說，眼神仿佛籠罩在記憶的神秘面紗下，“這個年歲棒極了，一個適合學(xué)習(xí)的最佳年齡。有這么多的事值得學(xué)習(xí)呢。”

然后，她安靜地低語著，與我分享了一個我余生都會時刻謹(jǐn)記的教導(dǎo)。“永遠(yuǎn)不要把任何人的愛視為理所當(dāng)然。如果你愛上某人，讓他像你一樣常常感受到愛。否則，你可能就會錯過屬于你的人生。不要讓自己活在懊惱之中。有些你認(rèn)為很重要的荒謬言論，甚至并不會在短時間內(nèi)被人記住。”

然后，她擁抱了我，并感謝我讓她說了這么多。當(dāng)她轉(zhuǎn)身走開時，我看到眼淚仍掛在她的眼角，但她臉上的微笑卻讓她的臉顯得如此迷人。她離開后，我站在那里回想著我們的談話，在腦海里重復(fù)著她的言語。永遠(yuǎn)不要把任何人的愛視為理所當(dāng)然。如果你愛上某人，讓他像你一樣常常感受到愛。

I have never seen that woman again, but her words of inspiration still live in me. At that time, the words were only little bits of advice. Now, however, they are the words which I try to live by, words that will always remind me of my special friend.

我再未見過那個女人，但她的話語仍然伴隨著我。當(dāng)時，這些話僅僅只是一個微不足道的小建議。然而現(xiàn)在，我卻靠著這些話而生活著，它總是讓我記起我特別的朋友。

■遺留在時光背后的思念

Left Behind

◎Pamela Perry Blaine

They're gone now.

I stood in the driveway and watched my grown children drive off into the distance. I looked down the road until I could no longer see their vehicles.

"They live way too far away from me," I said to myself. "When did they grow up and become parents of small children? Shouldn't that be me?"

I slipped back inside the house and just walked through the rooms for no reason in particular. I was just missing them already and looking for signs of their having been here. There were pillows on the floor where they had been tossed from the couch and a few stuffed animals lying around where the children had been playing.

I smiled at the little fingerprints on my mirror. I didn't wipe them off. I thought back to the time when I tried so hard to keep the fingerprints off the mirrors and doors when my children were small. Now, I wanted the tiny fingerprints to stay so that I could see them there just a little longer.

As I walked around the house, I picked up a few items on the floor and straightened a chair. I decided to sort through the toy box and I found a flying dinosaur, a skeleton, and a Frankenstein that had mysteriously taken up residence in my box of toys.

名人語庫

To have a child is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.

~Elizabeth Stone

有了孩子，就永遠(yuǎn)注定你的心將游離體外。

——伊麗莎白·斯通

現(xiàn)在他們走了。

我站在車道上，看著我那已長大的孩子漸漸駛遠(yuǎn)。我凝視著路的盡頭，直到再也看不見他們的身影。

“他們住得離我太遠(yuǎn)了，”我自言自語道，“他們什么時候長大并為人父母的？我不是才長大，才為人父母嗎？”

我回到屋里，只是在各個房間里漫無目的地游蕩。他們剛剛離去，我的思念就開始蔓延了，我只好在屋里尋找著他們曾逗留的痕跡。地板上散落著孩子們從沙發(fā)上扔下來的枕頭，一些布絨玩具動物正躺在孩子們之前玩耍的地方。

我對著鏡子上的小指印微笑，沒有將它們擦去。回想起當(dāng)我的孩子還小時，我都盡力不讓鏡子和房門沾上指印。現(xiàn)在，我希望這些小指印都留在上面，這樣我就能看久一點。

當(dāng)我在房間里游蕩時，我撿起地上的一些物品，并把一張椅子拉正。我決定整理一下玩具箱里的玩具。而我發(fā)現(xiàn)了一只會飛的恐龍、一個動物骨架，連弗蘭肯斯坦這個小怪人也不知怎么就神秘地跑到玩具箱里了。

I walked into the kitchen and there on the back of the sink was a bottle brush that had been left behind. "Ah, even Tessa left something behind," I announced. Well, I suppose she had help since she was just four months old.

"I wonder what else has been left behind," I said out loud to no one in particular. My husband heard me and joined the search for things left behind.

It seems like every time our family gets together something is left behind. When I call my children to tell them what they have left behind I am usually told, "Oh, just bring it when you come," "Keep it for me until I come back the next time," or "Hey, I really need that, would you mind mailing it to me?"

"Oh look! Here's Tegan's tooth," I said to my husband as I picked up a ziplock bag with her name engraved on it. Tegan had a loose tooth and had managed to wiggle it out earlier in the day. "Now, she can't put it under her pillow. I wonder if it will work if I put it under my pillow. The Tooth Fairy is going to be so confused!" I laughed.

I walked on around the house finding more things that had been left behind: a toothbrush, a ponytail band, an angel figurine, a pie pan, a frozen teething ring in the freezer, and last but not least the insides of a turkey fryer.

I was really kind of enjoying myself. It gave me something to do, after they left, to take my mind off of missing them.

Then my eyes teared up as I noticed the baby outfit beside the sink where it had been left to dry after spots had been scrubbed out of it. The little outfit, now stain free, reminded me of the trip to the emergency room with Rowan due to a gash on her head that was caused from a flower pot pulled over by her curious little fingers.

我走進(jìn)廚房，水槽后面有一個落下的洗瓶刷。“啊，連特莎也落下了一個東西。”我說道。噢，肯定是有人幫她刷瓶子才落下的，因為她只有四個月大呢。

“還落下了些什么東西呢。”我大聲地自言自語道。我丈夫聽見了我的話，也和我一塊搜尋那些落下的物品。

似乎每次我們家庭聚會，他們總會落下一些東西。每次我打電話給我的孩子，告訴他們落下了些什么時，他們通常都會跟我說：“噢，下次你來時給我們帶上吧。”或者“幫我留著，下次我回去再拿。”又或者“嗨，我急需要用，能幫我郵寄過來嗎？”

“嘿，你看！這是泰根的牙齒。”我撿起一個寫著她名字的自封袋，對丈夫說道。泰根先前有一顆牙齒松了，今早她設(shè)法把它拽了下來。“現(xiàn)在，她沒法把牙放在她的枕頭下了。不知道如果把它放在我的枕頭下，那傳說是否會奏效。牙仙子會很困惑的！”我笑了。

我在房間里四處游走，發(fā)現(xiàn)了更多落下的東西：一把牙刷、一根發(fā)帶、一個天使小雕像、一個烙餅平底鍋、一個放在冰箱里冷藏給嬰兒長牙時咬的橡皮環(huán)，最后還有一個同樣重要的火雞油炸鍋內(nèi)膽。

這還真是讓我樂在其中。這讓我在他們離開后有事可做，從而暫時擺脫對他們的思念。

然后，當(dāng)我留意到水槽旁晾著的那件已被洗凈的嬰兒服時，我的淚水涌了上來。那件干凈的小衣服讓我想起了我與羅溫的急診室之行。那次，她用好奇的小手指拉倒了一個花瓶，碎片在她頭上劃開了一道很深的傷口。

"Hmmm, things left behind …" I pondered to myself. It seems there is one thing that is left behind on every occasion. Memories are always left behind, I reasoned, and what a precious thing good memories are to us. I thought how each item left behind reminded me of the person it belonged to and the story surrounding it. The insides of the turkey fryer that was left behind reminded me of the delicious Thanksgiving meal that we all enjoyed. The empty pie pan reminded me of Katie's delicious pies. The angel figurine reminded me of the white elephant gift exchange game that we play every year. Even the bad memory of Rowan's injury reminded me of how frightened I was at the sound of her cry. It is a bad memory that turned into a good one as it reminded us of how precious little Rowan is to us.

Memories happen even if we aren't aware of it. The stressful and difficult moments often become memories that we look back on later with laughter and joy. They are the stories of the future when one day someone will say, "Remember when ...?", and everyone laughs.

Then, of course, there are some memories that need to be left behind. The memories of past hurts, unforgiveness, bitterness, and anger should be left behind forever. These are the things that we should never keep until the next time, mail back, or bring with us to our next visit.

Yes, I stood in the driveway and watched my grown children drive off into the distance and I remembered my own parents once doing the same thing. I never knew then that I would one day be the one waving from the driveway and feeling my heart drive off down the road. That's because there is one more thing besides memories left behind ... and that is love.

“嗯，落下的東西……”我陷入一片沉思之中。似乎有一樣?xùn)|西每次都會被落下。記憶，我尋思著，美好的記憶對我們來說是如此珍貴。我想著，每一件落下的物品都使我回想起對物主和相關(guān)故事的追憶。那個火雞油炸鍋內(nèi)膽，使我想起了我們都很享受的那頓美味的感恩節(jié)大餐；空空的烙餅平底鍋，使我想起了卡蒂的美味餡餅；天使小雕像，使我想起了我們每年都會玩的“白象禮物交換游戲”。甚至關(guān)于羅溫受傷的那段不好的記憶，也使我想起了聽到她的哭喊聲時，我有多么害怕。這個糟糕的記憶之所以變得美好，是因為它提醒了我，小羅溫對我們來說是多么珍貴。

即便是在我們毫不知情的時刻，記憶也總是在不斷發(fā)生。當(dāng)我們回顧往事時，我們會對那些充滿壓力和困難的時刻報以微笑和喜悅。未來的某天里，有人會問：“還記得……那個時候嗎？”這時，大家都會會心大笑起來。

接下來，當(dāng)然，也有一些需要被放下的記憶。過去的一些傷害、怨恨、痛苦或憤怒的記憶，應(yīng)該永遠(yuǎn)放下。我們永不該把這些記憶留存至下次見面的時候，不該用以回敬他人，也不要帶到他人面前。

是的，我站在車道上，看著我那已長大的孩子漸漸駛遠(yuǎn)。我想起了我的父母也曾做過同樣的事。我從不知道，有一天，我也會在車道上向遠(yuǎn)方揮手，感受著自己的心在那條路上駛遠(yuǎn)。那是因為，除了留下的記憶以外，還有一樣?xùn)|西也留下了……那就是愛。

■美好的記憶——永恒的禮物

Good Memories

—the Gift That Keeps on Giving

◎Michael Josephson

In a world preoccupied with（preoccupied with 全神貫注的） the quest for material possessions, it's easy to overlook the fact that the most valuable things we own are our best memories. Good memories are the gift that keeps on giving. They make us smile, feel proud, and re-experience the pleasure of past times.

Looked at through the soft lens（lens[lenz]n. 透鏡，鏡頭） of sentiment, even the memory of cranky（cranky['kr??ki]a. 古怪的） relatives and family traditions that bored or annoyed us at the time can be heart warming links with our past.

But whether your memories of the holiday season conjure up（conjure up 憑幻想（或用魔法）做出） good feelings and happy sounds, smells, and tastes or negative feelings filled with disappointments, resentments, and grudges, I hope you'll resolve this year to consciously create lasting good memories for yourself and those you care about.

名人語庫

The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved.

~V. Hugo

生活中最大的幸福是堅信有人愛我們。

——雨果

在這個世界上，一心只忙于追求物質(zhì)財富，就很容易忽視這樣一個事實：我們所擁有的最珍貴的東西是我們最美好的回憶。美好的記憶是賜予我們的禮物。它讓我們面帶笑容，心生自豪，并重溫過去的愉快時光。

透過那些多愁善感的記憶鏡頭，甚至某些時刻偏執(zhí)的親人、無聊而惱人的家庭傳統(tǒng)，這些記憶與我們過去的時光相連，也會變得溫暖人心。

但是，不管這些記憶節(jié)日是充滿愉悅的心境和快樂的聲音、味道、氣息，還是充斥著失望、憤怒和怨恨，我希望你今年能下意識地去創(chuàng)造持久而美好的回憶，為你自己，也為你所在乎的人。

盡管很少有人記得我們在去年或前年收到了什么，送出了什么，但我們更應(yīng)該注重給予或獲得禮物的美好過程。

不要太擔(dān)心你要給家人和朋友買些什么；多想想你希望給予他們什么。

Although few of us remember what we gave or got last year or the year before, the tendency is to put too much emphasis on the process of giving and getting gifts.

Don't worry so much about what to buy your family and friends; think more about what you want to give them.

Think beyond the synthetic atmosphere of the mall. Prefabricated（prefabricated[?pri:'f?brikeitid]a. 預(yù)制的） decorations and gift certificates are not the stuff of lasting recollections. Think about the feelings you want to create.

The best memories are made out of simple stuff—homemade food, handmade gifts, heartfelt letters, good conversations, games, and heirlooms（heirlooms['e??lu:mz]n. 祖?zhèn)鬟z物，傳家寶（heirloom的名詞復(fù)數(shù)）） .

Highlight and celebrate old traditions and consciously create new ones. You'll be glad you did—for a long time.

多想想大型商場氛圍以外的東西。訂制的裝飾品和禮品單據(jù)并不屬于永久的回憶。多想想你想要創(chuàng)造什么樣的感覺。

最好的回憶都是由最簡單的東西組成——自制食品，手工禮品，用心的信件，愉快的聊天，游戲以及祖?zhèn)鬟z物。

重視并慶祝一些古老的傳統(tǒng)日，并有意創(chuàng)造一些新的紀(jì)念。你會為你這么做了而感到高興——久久地因此而快樂著。