It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man.College,girls,career,and life itself got in the way.In fact,Jack moved across the country in pursuit of his dreams.There,in the rush of his busy life,Jack had little time to think about the past and stay with his wife and son.He was working on his future,and nothing could stop him.

Over the phone,his mother told him,"Mr.Belser died last night.The funeral is on Wednesday."

Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

"Jack,did you hear me?"

"Sorry,Mom.Yes,I heard you.It's been so long since I thought of him.I'm sorry,but I honestly thought he died years ago,"Jack said.

"Well,he didn't forget you.Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing.He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over ‘his side of the fence’ as he put it,"Mom told him.

"I loved that old house he lived in,"Jack said.

"You know,Jack,after your father died,Mr.Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life,"she said.

"He's the one who taught me carpentry,"he said."I wouldn't be in this business without him.He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom,I'll be there for the funeral,"Jack said.

As busy as he was,he kept his word.Jack caught the next flight to his hometown.Mr.Belser's funeral was small and uneventful.He had no children of his own,and most of his relatives had passed away.

The night before he had to return home,Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.

Standing in the doorway,Jack paused for a moment.It was like crossing over into another dimension,a leap through space and time.

The house was exactly as he remembered.Every step held memories.Every picture,every piece of furniture...Jack stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong,Jack?"his Mom asked.

"The box is gone,"he said.

"What box?"Mom asked.

"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk.I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside.All he'd ever tell me was ‘the thing I value most’,"Jack said.

It was gone.Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it,except for the box.He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him,"Jack said."I'd better get some sleep.I have an early flight home,Mom."

It had been about two weeks since Mr.Belser died.Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox."Signature required on a package.Please stop by the main post office within the next three days,"the note read.

Early the next day jack got the package.The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago.The handwriting was difficult to read,but the return address ‘Mr.Harold Belser’ caught his attention.

Jack took the box out to his car and opened the package.Inside there was the gold box and an envelope.Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.

"Upon my death,please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett.It's the thing I valued most in my life."A small key was taped to the letter.His heart racing,tears filling his eyes,Jack carefully unlocked the box.There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.

Running his fingers slowly over the beautiful casing,he unlatched the cover.Inside he found these words engraved:"Jack,thanks for your time!—Harold Belser"

"The thing he valued most was my time!"Jack held the watch for a few minutes,and then called his office to cancel his appointments for the next two days."Why?"Janet,his assistant asked.

"I need some time to spend with my son,"he said."Oh,by the way,Janet,thanks for your time!"

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,but by the moments that take our breath away.

感謝你的陪伴

距離杰克上次見那位老人已有段日子了。學業、女友、事業和生活瑣事使杰克無暇去看望老人。他為了追逐自己的夢想游走在全國各地，如此一來，為了生活奔波的杰克少有時間去思索過去、陪伴妻兒。他忙于前途，什么也阻擋不了他。

電話里，杰克的母親告訴他：“貝爾瑟先生昨晚去世了，葬禮周三舉行?！?

回憶不斷閃過杰克的腦海，就像一部老新聞片，他靜靜地坐在那里追憶自己的童年時光。

“杰克，你在聽嗎？”

“抱歉，媽媽。是的，我在聽。上次想起他已是很早以前了。我很抱歉，但說實話我原以為他幾年前就去世了?！苯芸苏f。

“噢，他可沒有忘記你。每次我見到他，他都會問你的情況。他總會提到那些你在‘籬笆那邊他家’度過的日子，他是這么說的。”母親告訴他。

“我喜歡他住的那棟老房子。”杰克說。

“杰克，你要知道，你爸爸去世之后，貝爾瑟先生走進了我們的生活，確保你能夠受到成年男性的影響?！蹦赣H說。

“他正是那個教會我做木工活的人?！苯芸苏f，“沒有他，我不會進入這個行業。他花了很多時間教我他認為重要的事情……媽媽，我會去參加葬禮的。”

他依舊繁忙，但他遵守了承諾。杰克乘坐最近的一個航班回到自己的家鄉。貝爾瑟先生的葬禮規模很小，平淡冷清，他自己沒有兒女，親戚大多已不在人世了。

回家的前一天晚上，杰克和他母親順道又一次去看看那棟老房子。

站在門廊里，杰克踟躕了一會兒。他仿佛跨越了時空，進入了一個異度空間。

這棟房子正如他記憶中的那樣，每個臺階都飽藏著回憶，每幅畫，每件家具……杰克突然站住了。

“怎么了，杰克？”母親問道。

“盒子不見了?！彼卮稹?

“什么盒子？”母親問。

“他鎖著放在書桌上的一只小金盒。我問過他一千次里面放的是什么，每次他告訴我的只是‘我最珍視的東西’。”杰克說。

盒子不見了。房子里的每件東西都一如杰克記憶中的樣子，除了那個盒子。他推測是貝爾瑟先生家里的人拿走了。

“好了，我永遠都不會知道是什么對他那么重要了，”杰克說，“我最好睡一會兒。我是凌晨的飛機，媽媽。”

貝爾瑟先生去世大約兩周后，有一天杰克下班回家，發現郵箱里有個紙條?！鞍枰炇铡Ｕ堄谌諆鹊洁]政總局取?！奔垪l上寫道。

次日清晨，杰克取了包裹。那個小盒子舊跡斑斑，如同一百年前郵寄的一般。字跡難以辨認，但寄件人“哈羅德·貝爾瑟先生”引起了他的注意。

杰克拿上盒子，走出郵局，來到車上，打開包裹。里面裝著那只金盒和一個封信。杰克讀著里面的信，手顫抖著。

“我死的時候，請把這個盒子和里面的東西轉寄給杰克·班尼特。這是我這一生最珍視的東西?！币话研¤€匙附在信上，杰克的心怦怦直跳，淚水盈眶。他小心翼翼打開盒子，在盒子里面，他看到一塊漂亮的金懷表。

杰克手指摩挲著漂亮的表盒，打開表蓋，注意到里面幾個刻下的文字：“杰克，謝謝你的陪伴！——哈羅德·貝爾瑟?！?

“他最珍視的東西是我陪伴他的時間！”杰克握著懷表好幾分鐘，然后打電話到辦公室取消了接下來兩天的預約?！盀槭裁茨?？”他的助手珍妮特問道。

“我需要點時間來陪兒子，”他說，“噢，順便說一句，珍妮特，謝謝你的陪伴！”

生命不取決于我們呼吸的次數，而取決于那些帶走我們呼吸的時光。