Mom’s Recipe for Life

by anonymous翻譯：小狐

Mom’s Recipe for Life

by anonymous翻譯：小狐

母親的生活秘方真誠的微果你帶著那么你會

如人交談，同樣親主動與別也會報以僅能笑大多數人和主動不發現，應。真誠以縮短人友好的回力，還可著如切的個人魅離。它有提升你的心理距不妨也來與人之間，我們大的魔力此一試？試

I have a lot of Mom’s recipes in a blue1)tin box where all special ones2)reside—the pumpkin pie she made during my wing up years, the light and3)yeasty4)dinner rolls that were ily5)faves. Even so, the recipe I6)treasure most is not on any dex card, nor did she send it to me in a letter. On the contrary, e lived this recipe all of her life, but I was too blind to see and preciate it until her fnal years.

My mother grew up in a small8)coal mining town in southwest Iowa. My grandfather once told me that she knew no stranger; she considered everyone in that community her friend. That attitude continued wherever she lived for the rest of her life.

As a9)tween and teen, I10)cringed every time my mother11)addressed strangers in the grocery store or on the city bus. She talked to everyone and offered a smile. In my12)naiveté, I was embarrassed.

Mom had a cheerful greeting for everyone she13)encountered and a question of some sort that14)triggered an answer and more conversation. She spoke to the mailman, the grocery store15)clerks, and the girls who worked in the neighborhood bakery.

I noticed that she smiled at everyone she passed in the store’s many16)aisles. Almost all of them responded with a bright17)beam of their own. Some spoke, others18)nodded their heads at this elderly woman who brought a little light into their day.

1) tin [t?n] adj. 錫制的

2) reside [r?'za?d] v. 存在于

3) yeasty ['ji?st?] adj. 酵母的

4) dinner roll 小圓面包

5) fave [fe?v] n. 特別受喜愛的人（或物）

6) treasure ['tre??] v. 珍愛，珍藏

7) index ['?ndeks] n. 索引

8) coal mining 采煤，煤礦業

9) tween and teen 青少年

10) cringe [kr?nd?] v. 畏縮，蜷縮

11) address [?'dres] v. 對……說話

12) naiveté [na?'i?vt?] n. 天真，幼稚

13) encounter [?n'ka?nt?] v. 遇見

14) trigger ['tr?g?] v. 引起

15) clerk [kl??k] n. 店員

16) aisle [a?l] n. 走廊，過道

17) beam [bi?m] n. 喜色，笑容

18) nod [n?d] v. 點頭

What really19)sold me on Mom’s approach to life was her experience on the senior bus, a story I’ve repeated to others many times. The weeks I could not be there, she used this low-cost transportation to the grocery store. After her frst trip, I asked her how it went.

“Ha!” she said, “I got on that bus and what did I see? Thirteen little old ladies and one old man, and not one word was spoken.”

I wondered how long it would be until the20)somberness on that bus would change. On my next visit, Mom mentioned the girls on the bus and something one of them had told her.

“Oh, are you talking with them now?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said. “One day I climbed up the steps of the bus and before I looked for a seat, I gave them a big smile and I said, ‘Isn’t it a wonderful day?’ I noticed a few shy smiles.”

Mom didn’t give up. She greeted them all each time she got on the bus and before long, the whole group was laughing and talking to one another. The bus became more than just transportation.

When we went to the various stores, I observed as she smiled and chatted with21)perfect strangers. Some of them looked like the22)sourest person you’d ever met, but once Mom smiled at them and started a conversation, most responded favorably. My mother didn’t embarrass me any longer. I found myself admiring her.

She’s been gone for ten years but I’ve carried on her recipe for life. I smile at people as I walk by and often begin a conversation in the checkout line. Silent,23)solemn people respond with smiles of their own and a bit of24)chatter. All it takes is for one person to25)initiate the smile or a greeting.

It was me who had done the smiling frst and all those people had responded. My mother didn’t lecture but taught me by example. She’d given me a recipe for life.

19) sell [sel] v. 〈口〉使接受

20) somberness ['s?mb?n?s] n. 憂郁，嚴肅認真

21) perfect ['p??f?kt] adj. 完全的

22) sour ['sa??] adj. 易怒的，尖酸刻薄的

23) solemn ['s?l?m] adj. 嚴肅的

24) chatter ['t??t?] n. 喋喋不休

25) initiate [?'n???e?t] v. 發起

在一個藍色的錫盒里，我珍藏了很多母親留下來的食譜，那里存放著我所有的特殊秘方—比如在我長身體那幾年里她做的南瓜餡餅，以及全家人都愛吃的松軟的酵母小圓面包。盡管如此，我最為珍視的秘方卻不在這些索引卡上，她也并沒有寫成信留給我。恰恰相反，她終其一生都在身體力行，而我卻太過盲目，一直到她生命最后的那幾年，我才發現并懂得珍惜這個秘方。

我的母親是在衣阿華州西南邊的一個小鎮上長大的—小鎮上的人都以采煤為生。我的祖父曾告訴我，在她眼里沒有陌生人；她把那個社區里的每個人都當作是她的朋友。在之后的歲月里，無論她走到哪里，她始終抱有這種想法，未曾改變。

作為一個十幾歲的孩子，每當我母親在雜貨店或是在城市公交上與陌生人攀談時，我都會畏縮不前。她會帶著一臉微笑與每個人交談，而那時天真幼稚的我卻對此感到難為情。

母親會熱情地與遇到的每個人打招呼，然后會問別人一些問題，引出別人的回答，從而帶出更多的交談。她會與郵遞員、雜貨店店員，還有那些在附近面包坊里工作的姑娘們聊天。

我注意到，當她在商店的走道間穿行時，她會沖著遇到的每個人微笑，而幾乎所有的人都會對她回以一個明媚的笑容。有些人會聊上幾句，有些人則會沖著這個年邁的女人—這個給他們這一天帶來一絲陽光的人點點頭。

真正令我開始接受母親對待生活的方式的，是因為一段她在老人專車上的經歷，這個故事我已經對別人講了很多遍。在我不能回家的那幾個星期里，她都會乘坐這種低價的交通工具到雜貨鋪去。在她第一次乘車后，我問她是否一切順利。

“哈！”她說，“我上了那輛車后，你猜我看到了什么？十三個小老太太和一個老頭，但他們都沒說過一句話。”

我還在想，到底要過多久，那輛公共汽車上的憂郁氣氛才會有所改變。在我下一次去探望母親時，她又提到了那些公共汽車上的女士們，她們當中的一位和她說了些話。

“噢，你現在和他們聊上了嗎？”我問道。

“當然了，”她說。“有天我上了車，在找到座位坐下前，我給了他們一個大大的微笑，并且說，‘今天真是個好天氣吧？’我注意到有幾個人害羞地笑了。”

母親并未放棄努力。每次只要她乘坐那趟車，她都會向他們所有人問好。于是沒過多久，一車子的老人都開始談笑風生，互相交流起來。那輛公共汽車也不再僅僅是交通工具了。

當我們去到不同的商店時，我會觀察她是如何沖著那些完全陌生的人微笑并攀談的。他們中的某些人看起來就像是你遇到過脾氣最壞的那種人，可一旦我母親沖著他們微笑并開始交談后，大多數人的回應還是友好親切的。我母親不再令我感到難堪了。我發現自己打心底里贊賞她。

盡管她已經去世十年了，但我依然貫徹著她的人生秘方。每當路過別人身邊的時候，我會先對別人微笑，也常會在排隊付賬時與人攀談。而那些少言、嚴肅的人也會微笑著與我聊上幾句。而這一切只需要一個人首先給對方一個笑容或一聲問候就行了。

現在是我先對別人微笑，而其他人都會給予回應。我的母親并沒有給我上課，卻以身作則地教會了我這一點。她給了我生活的秘方。