那些父與子的時光

與父親的相處或許并不需多言，雖然我們之間難免會發生一些摩擦與爭執，不過沒關系，一首我們都愛的歌就能讓彼此立馬忘記曾經的不愉快，和好如初。

On a Friday night， around 4：30， we rushed into the car to get to our grandparents house before we had to go to bed because the ride took two and a half hours.

"Brendan， hurry up， we are going to be late！" My dad said， waiting impatiently for me to get into the car. "I&apos；m going as fast as I can." I replied getting my bags ready. "Well it isn&apos；t fast enough." Barked1） my dad as he closed the door on me and left me there.

I could have said a couple of things to my dad right there， but I felt it wouldn&apos；t be my smartest decision because of the trouble I could get in.

Walking to the car， I could easily hear the Beatles music buzzing and making the whole car shake. It was as easy as listening to crickets2） at night when nothing else makes a sound. When I got into the car， my dad was singing （terribly， but nobody ever said anything） the song Can&apos；t Buy Me Love3）， one of his favorites and one of my least favorites. Every time I heard the song I wanted to chuck4） a baseball at the radio.

"Dad， do you think you could lower the music down？" I asked， hoping he could just turn it off. But， he continued to sing. Can&apos；t buy me love， love， no no no， no！ "Dad！"

He never stopped singing. He sang because he knew I felt mad already， and he knew I hated the Beatles， so he wanted to have some fun with me， which I obviously didn&apos；t like. The rest of that car ride had a lot of anger， mostly from me. I was furious at my dad with his singing in the car. Although it was about a stupid thing， our argument made me unbelievably angry with him. I never wanted to see him again for the rest of my life.

On some days， my dad made me rake5） leaves instead of going to a friend&apos；s house. On others， he took my brother and me to something like a football game to have a fun time. Our relationship has either been as high as the top of a mountain or as low as the center of the earth. One thing that kept our relationship digging through the ground of the earth： the Beatles. My dad listened to the Beatles all the time， including car rides， when we had parties and just on a normal summer day by our pool. Wherever I went I could hear the Beatles torturing me with their music. As this happened， it made me not like the Beatles even more after6） they weren&apos；t my favorite band.

After the incident in the car， whenever I heard the Beatles， it reminded me of that horrific day when we had our argument. So， I truly started to hate the Beatles.

Although， over the years as I continued to listen to the Beatles more and more （since they were around me all the time） their music changed from the music I couldn&apos；t stand. I realized how they weren&apos；t as terrible as I thought they were. It changed from walking out of the room when they were on， to staying in the room just listening to them.

Another Friday night， my dad and mom went out to dinner and my dad had just informed me of who the baby-sitter was that night.

"Dad， why do I have to baby-sit the girls？" I asked with anger. I knew there wasn&apos；t a big chance of him getting another baby-sitter， but I felt too angry. "Brendan， it is much easier for us to have you just watch them，" my dad replied. He looked like he really didn&apos；t want to start an argument. "They are so loud and I will never be able to study！" If I tried to study， I would learn about what I needed to learn and what the girls were talking about. "Then tell them to be quiet！" My dad boomed7）， his voice echoed through the entire house. "They don&apos；t listen to me！" I yelled back. "Then make them listen， you are baby-sitting and that is FINAL！" He finished. I thought his face was going to explode； it was so red.

He left the house without saying another word. I felt so irritated with him. He didn&apos；t listen to me or help me with my situation at all. Today， I know we could have handled the situation better， and I am happy to know that we can avoid arguing that much now.

The next morning I awoke to loud music coming from the basement. Knowing it was Dad listening to the Beatles—Who else would be listening to the Beatles at eight in the morning？—I got up and headed towards the basement. Once I saw Dad on the Stairmaster8） listening to Help！9）， I began singing the song. It startled10） him as he quickly turned his head to see who had joined him in the basement， but once he saw me and saw me singing， he joined in. We sang， badly， but still we sang together. We didn&apos；t care if we woke everyone else up； all we cared about was the fact that we knew we both felt sorry and we both forgave each other. The feeling of us staying great friends is one of the best feelings ever. When you know that after a big argument， you can still maintain a friendship， it is definitely an amazing thing.

Looking back on that day， I realized how some little things in a relationship can keep them strong and help them continue after a terrible event. My dad and I have had some nasty arguments and situations， but we always tend to keep our friendship because of the Beatles. Their music reminds us of all of the good things we have done together and how unbelievable our relationship is.

To this day， we know we can have disagreements， but we also know that we can still be awesome friends. And， as Ringo Starr11） has said many times， "I get by with a little help from my friends12）！"

一個周五的晚上，為了在我們必須上床睡覺之前趕到爺爺奶奶家，大約4：30左右我們就急匆匆地上了車，因為車程還需要兩個半小時。

“布倫丹，快點，咱們要遲到了！”不耐煩地等著我上車的爸爸說。“我盡快就來。”我一邊收拾著自己的大包小包，一邊回答道。“哎呀，還不夠快。”爸爸吼了一聲，沖著我把車門關上了，把我一個人扔在了那里。

我當時本來可以回敬爸爸幾句的，但我覺得這樣做不是我能做出的最明智的決定，因為我可能會惹上麻煩。

我朝車子走了過去，毫不費力就能聽到披頭士的音樂嗡嗡震天響著，震得整個車身都在動，就如同在萬籟俱寂的夜晚聽見蟋蟀叫那樣毫不費力。當我坐上車時，爸爸正在唱《買不來愛情》（他唱得很難聽，但從未有人說過什么），那是他最喜歡也是我最不喜歡的歌曲之一。每當我聽到這首歌，我都想朝收音機砸一個棒球過去。

“爸爸，你能不能把音樂關小一點？”我問他，希望他能干脆把它關掉。可他仍繼續唱著。買不來愛情，愛情，是啊是啊是啊，是啊！“爸爸！”

他一直唱個不停。他唱是因為知道我已經感到非常憤怒了，也知道我討厭披頭士，所以想逗我玩一下，而我顯然不喜歡這樣。接下來的一路上都充滿了憤怒，大多都是我的憤怒。我對爸爸在車里唱歌感到十分惱火。雖然是為了這么一樁無聊的事情，可我們的爭吵令我對他極為惱火，生氣的程度讓人難以置信——我希望這輩子再也不要見到他。

有時，爸爸要求我用耙子把落葉攏在一起，而不許我去朋友家玩。有時，他會帶我和弟弟去看場足球賽什么的，來度過一段歡樂的時光。我們的關系要么就升至山峰，要么就跌至地心。導致我們的關系不斷“掘穿地表”的一個原因就是披頭士。爸爸總是在聽披頭士——開車時聽，我們聚會時聽，就連在某個普通的夏日坐在我們家泳池邊上的時候也在聽。無論我走到哪兒，我都能聽到披頭士在用他們的音樂折磨我。披頭士本來就不是我最喜歡的樂隊，爸爸這樣一來就讓我更不喜歡披頭士了。

繼車上的那次爭吵之后，每當我聽到披頭士的歌，我都會想起我們發生爭吵的那恐怖的一天。于是，我開始真的討厭起披頭士來了。

可是，年復一年，隨著我繼續聽披頭士的歌，而且還越來越多（因為它們無時無刻不包圍著我），它們變得不再是我無法忍受的那種歌曲了。我意識到它們并不像我過去所認為得那樣糟。情況由我一聽到披頭士的歌就離開房間轉變為我就那么聽著他們的歌待在房間里。

又是一個周五的晚上，爸爸媽媽要出去吃飯，而爸爸那時才告訴我當晚照看孩子的人是誰。

“爸爸，為什么非得由我來照看妹妹們？”我生氣地問道。我知道他不太可能再去找另一個人來看孩子，可我就是覺得太生氣了。“布倫丹，就讓你來照看她們對我們來說會方便得多。”爸爸回答說，一副真心不打算引發一場爭吵的樣子。“她們太吵了，我根本沒法學習！”如果我嘗試去學習的話，除了學到我需要學習的內容，我還會聽到妹妹們在說什么。“那就叫她們安靜！”爸爸低沉有力地說，聲音在整座房子里回蕩著。“她們不聽我的！”我沖他嚷道。“那就讓她們聽，由你來照看她們，就這么定了！”他不再說話。他的臉漲得通紅，我覺得它都快要爆炸了。

他沒有再說一個字就離開了家，我感覺自己特別生他的氣。他不聽我說，也完全不幫我應對我當時所處的情況。如今，我知道我們本可以更好地處理當時的狀況，我也很高興我們現在能夠避免像以前那樣吵得那么兇了。

第二天早上，我在從地下室傳來的嘈雜音樂聲醒來。我知道是爸爸在聽披頭士的歌（還有誰會在早上8點鐘聽披頭士呢？），便起床向地下室走去。一看到爸爸在樓梯機上聽《救命！》，我就開始唱起這首歌來。他大吃一驚，因為他立刻回過頭來，看是誰進來了。可當他看到我，看到是我在唱歌時，他也跟著我唱了起來。我們唱著，雖然很難聽，可卻依然一起唱著。我們不在乎我們是否會把其他人都吵醒，我們在乎的只有這個事實——我們明白自己都對對方感到抱歉，而我們也都原諒了對方。我們還是好朋友，這是我體驗過的最美妙的感覺之一。當你意識到你們在大吵一架之后仍然可以維持一段友誼時，那絕對是一件特別棒的事情。

回首那一天，我意識到在一段關系中，一些很小的事情竟能鞏固彼此之間的感情，并能在發生了特別不愉快的事情之后幫助彼此維持這段關系。我和爸爸有吵得很兇、鬧得很不愉快的時候，但是因為有披頭士，我們往往能繼續我們的友誼。他們的音樂讓我們想起我們一起做過的所有愉快的事，以及我們的關系是多么的好。

直到今天，我們都知道我們可能會有爭吵，但我們同樣知道，我們仍然會是好朋友。就像林戈·斯塔爾常說的那句話：“我依靠朋友們的點滴幫助支撐了下來！”