別說再見——真愛永相隨

Steve Inskeep （Host）： OK， as StoryCorps celebrates 10 years of collecting stories， we’ve been looking back at some of your favorites this week. And today， a couple from Brooklyn that many of you will remember： Danny and Annie Perasa. Danny was a horse-betting clerk； his wife， Annie， a nurse. They spoke about deciding to get married on their first date， and still being in love 25 years later.

Danny Perasa： I always feel guilty when I say ‘I love you’to you. And I say it so often. I say it to remind you that as 1）dumpy as I am， it’s coming from me—it’s like hearing a beautiful song from a 2）busted old radio. And it’s nice of you to keep the radio around the house.

Annie Perasa： If I don’t have a note on the kitchen table， I think there’s something wrong. You write a love letter to me every morning.

Danny： Well， the only thing that could possibly be wrong is， I couldn’t find a silly pen.

Annie： （reading） To my princess， the weather out today is extremely rainy. I’ll call you at 11：20 in the morning...

Danny： It’s a romantic weather report.

Annie： （reading） And I love you， I love you， I love you.

Danny： When a guy is happily married—no matter what happens at work， no matter what happens in the rest of the day—there’s a shelter when you get home. There’s a knowledge， knowing that you can hug somebody without them throwing you down the stairs and saying， get your hands off me. And being married is like having a color television set. You never want to go back to black and white.

（soudbite of music）

Steve： Oh， what a voice. Danny and Annie came back to StoryCorps many times. Then in 2006， he was diagnosed with cancer. He wanted to record one last interview， so StoryCorps went to their home in Brooklyn.

Annie： The illness is not hard on me. It’s just， you know， the 3）finality of it； and him， he goes along like a 4）trouper.

Danny： She said—it was her call—she wants to walk out behind the 5）casket alone. I guess that’s the way to do it because when we were married， you know how your brother takes you down； your father takes you down？ She said： Well， I don’t know which of my brothers to walk in with. I don’t want to offend anybody. I said， I got a solution. I said， you walk in with me； you walk out with me. And the other day I said， who’s going to walk down the aisle with you behind the casket？—you know， to support her. And she said nobody. I walked in with you alone. I’m walking out with you alone.（starts crying）

Annie： Mm-hmm.

Danny： I always said， the only thing I have to give you was a poor gift and it’s myself—and I always gave it. And if there’s a way to come back and give it， I’ll do that too. Do you have the Valentine’s Day letter there？

Annie： Yeah. （reading） My Dearest Wife， this is a very special day. It is a day on which we share our love， which still grows after all these years. Now， that love is being used by us to 6）sustain us through these hard times. All my love， all my days and more. Happy Valentine’s Day. （starts crying）

Danny： （crying） I could write on and on about her. She lights up the room in the morning， when she tells me to put both hands on her shoulders， so that she can support me. She lights up my life when she says to me at night： Wouldn’t you like a little ice cream？ Or， would you please drink more water？ I mean， those aren’t very romantic things to say， but they stir my heart. In my mind and my heart， there has never been， there is not now， and never will be， another Annie.

（soundbite of music）

Steve： That story aired on the Friday， Danny died. Now， after more than seven years， let’s check in with Annie Perasa.

Annie： I know that people have written to StoryCorps， asking if I was still alive. No， I’m still alive. And I live with the 7）philosophy that Danny and I always had. It was： Never Say Goodbye. This year would have been our 35th wedding anniversary. And I miss my letters from Danny. I do. But after Danny died， I had received 1，300 letters of 8）condolences. I mean， I got letters as far away as Beijing， China—you know？ Or Paris， France. （reading） My English is not too well， please excuse me， I wish to send my condolences. So I would read one a day because Danny wrote me a love letter every day. You know， like people say： You must miss Danny terribly. No. It was an honor to be married to him. So it’s not terrible that I had the time to be with him. You know， life is too short. You come， and you’re gone. But Danny didn’t go. He’s not gone because of StoryCorps.

（soundbite of music）

斯蒂夫·英斯吉普（主持人）：好的，在慶?！豆适聢F》成立十周年之際，這周我們一直在回顧一些你們喜愛的故事。今天，我們要講的是大家都會記得的來自布魯克林的一對夫婦——丹尼·帕拉沙和安妮·帕拉沙。丹尼是一位賽馬投注站的職員，他的妻子安妮是一名護士。他們說在第一次約會就打算結婚，25年后依然相愛如初。

丹尼·帕拉沙：當我跟你說“我愛你”的時候，總是會感到愧疚。但我總是會那么說。我這樣說是想提醒你盡管我很矮胖，但這句話還是出自我——這就像在一臺破舊的收音機里聽到一首美妙的歌曲。你真好，一直把這臺“收音機”留在家里。

安妮·帕拉沙：如果我在餐桌上看不到一張便條，就會感到哪里不對勁。你每個早晨都會給我寫一封情書。

丹尼：好吧，不對勁的唯一原因就是我找不到一只該死的筆。

安妮：（朗讀）致我的公主：今天外面下很大的雨，我會在今早11： 20打給你……。

丹尼：這是一個浪漫的天氣預報。

安妮：（朗讀）還有我愛你，我愛你，我愛你。丹尼：當一個男人幸福地結婚了，無論工作上發生什么，無論接下來的日子會怎樣，回到家就有了遮風擋雨的地方。你知道你可以抱著一個人，而不會被她扔下樓梯說：“把你的手從我身上拿開！”。結了婚就像擁有一臺彩電，你永遠不會想回到過去的黑白電視的時代。

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史蒂夫：噢，那是多么真誠的聲音，丹尼和安妮多次回到《故事團》。在2006年，他被診斷出得了癌癥。他想錄最后一次的采訪，所以《故事團》欄目組來到了他們在布魯克林的家。

安妮：他的病沒有打垮我。只是，你知道的，最后的時光。而他，他的變化太戲劇性了。

丹尼：她說——這是她的請求——她想一個人走在棺材的后面。我想這樣做是對的，因為當我們結婚時，你知道你哥哥是怎樣帶你走的，你爸爸是怎樣帶你走的嗎？她說：“好吧，我不知道是哪個哥哥帶我走的，我沒有冒犯任何人的意思。”我說：“我有一個辦法。你和我一起走進去，現在再和我一起走出去。”某天我說：“誰和你一起走在棺材的后面？”——你知道的，去支持她。然后她說：“沒人陪我走。我一個人跟你走進去，就打算獨自陪你走出來?！保ㄩ_始哭）

安妮：嗯嗯。

丹尼：我總是說，唯一能給你的禮物就是可憐的我自己——而我總是這么做。如果還有辦法重來，我還會這么做。你那有情人節（我給你寫的）信嗎？

安妮：嗯。（朗讀）我親愛的妻子，這是非常特別的一天。這是我們分享愛的日子，隨著歲月的流逝我們的愛還在逐年增長。現在，這份愛被我們用來渡過這些難關。我用盡一生全心全意地愛你。情人節快樂。（開始哭）

丹尼：（哭）我能不斷地寫她。她在早上點亮了房間，告訴我雙手放在她的肩膀上，這樣她才能支持我。晚上當她跟我說：“你要來點雪糕嗎？”或者“你能多喝點水嗎？”，這些都會讓我的生活充滿希望。我意思是，這些不是什么浪漫的事，但卻能給我鼓舞。在我的心里，過去，現在，未來都只有一個安妮。

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史蒂夫：這個故事在星期五廣播，那天丹尼去世了。現在，7年多過去了，我們來看看安妮·帕拉沙怎樣了。

安妮：我知道人們寫信給《故事團》，詢問我是否在世。對，我還活著。我帶著丹尼和我總是有的信仰活著。那就是：永遠別說再見。今年是我們結婚第35周年。我想念丹尼給我寫的信，我真的很懷念。但是丹尼離開后，我收到了1300封安慰我的信。我意思是，你知道嗎，我收到了遠至中國北京的信？或者法國的巴黎。（朗讀）我的英語不太好，請原諒我，我希望能傳達對你的安慰。所以我會每天讀一封信，因為丹尼每天都會給我寫一封情書。你知道的，就像人們所說的：你一定非常想念丹尼。不，嫁給他是我的榮幸，因此跟他在一起的日子很美好。你知道的，人生苦短，來也匆匆，去也匆匆。但是因為有《故事團》，丹尼沒有離開過。

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