親情故事:一個恪守一生的承諾 A Promise Kept
In a world where so many lives are being torn apart by divorces and heartaches, comes a story of a father and a daughter, and a promise that was kept.
現今，離婚和關係破裂粉碎了無數人的人生，然而在這樣的一個時世，有着這麼一個關於一對父女信守承諾的故事。
My father was not a sentimental man. I don’t remember him ever “ooohhing” or “ahhing” over something I made as a child. Don’t get me wrong; I knew that my dad loved me, but getting all 1)mushy-eyed was not his thing. I learned that he showed me love in other ways.
我父親不善表露感情。我記得在我小時候，他從來不爲我做的任何事情而發出“噢噢噢”或者“啊啊啊”之類的感嘆。不要誤會我的意思；我知道我父親是愛我的，但是將感情外露不是他的性格。我知道他通過其他方式表達對我的愛。
There was one particular time in my life when this became real to me...
在我人生中，只有這麼一回讓我感受到他的愛是如此的真實……
I always believed that my parents had a good marriage, but just before I, the you.gest of four children, turned sixteen, my belief was sorely tested. My father, who used to share in the 2)chores around the house, gradually started becoming 3)despondent. From the time he came home from his job at the factory to the time he went to bed, he hardly spoke a word to my mom or us kids. The 4)strain on my mom and dad’s relationship was very evident. However, I was not prepared for the day that Mom sat my siblings and me down and told us that Dad had decided to leave. All that I could think of was that I was going to become a product of a divorced family. It was something I never thought possible, and it grieved me greatly. I kept telling myself that it wasn’t going to happen, and I went totally 5)numb when I knew my dad was really leaving. The night before he left, I stayed up in my room for a long time. I prayed and I cried and I wrote a long letter to my dad. I told him how much I loved him and how much I would miss him. I told him that I was praying for him and wanted him to know that, no matter what, Jesus and I loved him. I told him that I would always and forever be his Noodles. As I folded my note, I stuck in a picture of me with a saying I had always heard: “Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a daddy.”
我一直深信我父母的婚姻很美滿，但是當我——四個孩子中最小的一個——快滿十六歲的時候，我這種想法受到了嚴峻的考驗。以前父親都會幫忙做些家務雜活的，但是他漸漸地變得泄氣沮喪。從工廠下班回到家中直到上牀睡覺，他幾乎不跟母親或者我們說一句話。很明顯，父母親的關係非常緊張。有一天，母親讓我們兄弟姐妹坐下來，告訴我們說父親決定離開這個家，但是我對此完全沒有心理準備。我能想到的就是我將要成爲離婚家庭的產物。我從來沒想過會發生這樣的事，所以非常悲痛。我不斷地告訴自己說爸媽不會離婚的，但是當我知道父親真的要走的時候，我呆若木雞。在他走之前的那一晚，我在自己的房間裏熬到深夜。我祈禱，哭泣，然後寫了一封長信給我父親。我告訴他我有多麼地愛他，我以後會多麼地想念他。我告訴他我正在爲他祈禱，而且希望他知道，無論如何上帝和我都會愛他。我告訴他我會永遠都是他的小克莉絲……他的“麪條”。摺好這封信之後，我還塞了一張自己的照片進去，上面寫着一句我常常聽到的習語：“任何人都可以成爲父親，但是並非人人都能成爲‘爹地’。”
Early the next morning, as my dad left our house, I 6)sneaked out to the car and slipped my letter into one of his bags.
第二天早上，我趁父親走出房子的時候，偷偷溜到小汽車裏，把這封信放進他其中的一個揹包裏。
Two weeks went by with hardly a word from my father. Then, one afternoon, I came home from school to find my mom sitting at the dining room table waiting to talk to me. I could see in her eyes that she had been crying. She told me that Dad had been there and that they had talked for a long time. They decided that there were things that the both of them could and would change and that their marriage was worth saving. Mom then turned her focus to my eyes.
兩個星期過去了，父親幾乎音信全無。然後，一天下午，我放學回家後看到母親坐在飯廳的餐桌旁，等着跟我談一談。我從她的眼睛可以看出她剛哭過。她告訴我父親曾經來過，還和她談了好久。他們認爲，他們之間有很多地方可以改善，並且在將來也會得到改善，而且他們的婚姻值得挽救。然後媽媽把目光轉過來，望着我的眼睛。
“Kristi, Dad told me that you wrote him a letter. Can I ask what you wrote to him?”
“克莉絲汀，你爸告訴我說你給他寫了一封信。我可以知道你寫了些什麼嗎？”
I found it hard to share with my mom what I had written from my heart to my dad. I 7)mumbled a few words and 8)shrugged.
我所寫的都是想對父親說的肺腑之言，這些言語我很難向母親啓齒。所以我只是含糊地說了幾句，然後聳聳肩。
Mom said, “Well, Dad said that when he read your letter, it made him cry. It meant a lot to him and I have hardly ever seen your dad cry. After he read your letter, he called to ask if he could come over to talk. Whatever you said really made a difference to your dad.”
母親說：“嗯，你爸說，他讀你的信讀到哭了。這封信對他很有意義，而我幾乎沒見過你爸哭。他讀完你的信之後，打電話來問我可不可以談一談。你的話真的對他影響很大。”
A few days later my dad was back, this time to stay. We never talked about the letter, my dad and I. I guess I always figured that it was something that was a secret between us.
幾天後，父親回家了，這次他不走了。父親和我之後再沒提起過這封信。我想我一直把這封信當作了我們兩人之間的祕密。
My parents went on to be married a total of thirty six years before my dad’s early death at the age of fifty three cut short their lives together. In the last sixteen years of my parent’s marriage, I and all those who knew my mom and dad, witnessed one of the truly “great” marriages. Their love grew stronger every day, and my heart swelled with pride as I saw them grow closer together.
父母親的婚姻維持了整整36年，直到父親在53歲時早逝，才結束了他們在一起的時光。在父母親婚姻的最後16年裏，所有認識我父母親的人以及我，都見證了這段非常美滿的婚姻。他們的愛日漸牢固，而當我看到他們越來越親密的時候，我的心裏就會充滿自豪。
When Mom and Dad received the news from the doctor that his heart was deteriorating rapidly, they took it hand in hand, side by side, all the way.
當父母親從醫生那裏得知父親的心臟正在快速衰竭的時候，他們始終手牽手，肩並肩地一起面對疾病。
After Dad’s death, we had the most unpleasant task of going through his things. I have never liked this task and opted to 9)run errands so I did not have to be there while most of the things were divided and boxed up.
父親逝世後，我們開始整理他的遺物，這是最爲難受的任務。我從來不喜歡做這活兒，而選擇了做跑腿，因此大部分遺物被分類和裝箱的時候，我都不必在場。
When I got back from my errand, my brother said, “Kristi, Mom said to give this to you. She said you would know what it meant.”
當我辦完事回家的時候，我的哥哥說：“克莉絲汀，這是媽媽讓我給你的。她說你會明白其中的含義。”
As I looked down into his outstretched hand, it was then that I knew the impact of my letter that day so long ago. In my brother’s hand was my picture that I had given my dad that day. My unsentimental dad, who never let his emotions get the best of him; my dad, who almost never outwardly showed his love for me, had kept the one thing that meant so much to him and me. I sat down and the tears began to flow, tears that I thought had dried up from the grief of his death but that had now found new life as I realized what I had meant to him. Mom told me that Dad kept both the picture and that letter his whole life. I have a box in my home that I call the “Dad box”. In it are so many things that remind me of my dad. I pull that picture out every once in a while and remember. I remember a promise that was made many years ago between a young man and his bride on their wedding day, and I remember the unspoken promise that was made between a father and his daughter.
我低頭看他伸出的手，那時我才明白到我那封信在多年前那天所產生的影響。我哥哥手中拿的是那天我給父親的那張照片。我那不善表露感情的父親，從來不讓內心的情緒左右自己；我的父親，幾乎從來沒有大方地表達對我的愛，卻一直保存着這張對他和我都極爲重要的照片。我坐下來，眼淚開始滴落，我曾以爲我的眼淚在他去世的時候就流乾了，而現在當我意識到我對他是多麼重要的時候，眼淚又開始“復甦”。母親告訴我說，父親始終珍藏着這張照片和那封信。我家裏有一個我稱之爲“爸爸盒子”的盒子。裏面放了許多可以讓我回憶起父親的東西。我不時從這個盒子裏拿出這張照片，回憶往日。我記得許多年前一名年輕男子與他的新娘在結婚那天許下的誓言，我記得一個父親和他女兒之間無言的承諾。
A promise kept.
一個恪守一生的承諾。
