Give Time to Our Family

by Stephen

Give Time to Our Family

by Stephen

你把學習以外的時間都花在哪里了呢？你是否已經很久沒有花時間好好陪伴自己的家人了？向家人表達愛的最佳方式之一便是多陪伴他們，陪伴是最長情的告白。陪伴對每個人，尤其對家人來說，都是意義非凡的。希望每個人都不是“失陪族”，不要再等到“下一次”。

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, “I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.”

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a1)widowfor 19 years, but the2)demandsof my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only3)occasionally. That night, I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.“What’s wrong, are you well?” she asked.

My mother is the type of woman who4)suspectsthat a late night call or a surprise5)invitationis a sign of bad news. “I thought that it would be6)pleasantto spend some time with you,” I responded. “Just the two of us.” She thought about it for a moment, and then said, “I would like that very much.”

That Friday after work, as I drove to pick her up, I was a bit7)nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had8)curledher hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding9)anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as10)radiantas an angel’s. “I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were11)impressed,”she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear about our meeting.”

The restaurant was very nice and12)cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Halfway through the13)entrees, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A14)nostalgicsmile was on her lips. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said. “Then it’s time that you relax and let me15)return the favor,” I responded. During the dinner, we had an16)agreeableconversation—nothing17)extraordinarybut18)catching up onrecent events of each other’slives. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.

“How was your dinner date?” asked my wife when I got home. “Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,” I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a19)massiveheart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an20)envelopewith a copy of a restaurant21)receiptfrom the same place mother and I had dined. An22)attachednote said: “I paid this bill23)in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two24)plates—one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.”

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: “I LOVE YOU” and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be25)put offtill“some other time.”

1) widow ['w?d??] n. 寡婦

2) demand [d?'mα?nd] n. 要求，需要

3) occasionally [?'ke???n?l?] adv. 偶爾，間或

4) suspect [s?s'pekt] v. 懷疑，猜想

5) invitation [,?nv?'te???n] n. 邀請

6) pleasant ['plez?nt] adj. 令人愉快的

7) nervous ['n??v?s] adj. 神經緊張的，不安的

8) curl [k??l] v. 使卷曲

9) anniversary [,?n?'v??s?r?] n. 周年紀念日

10) radiant ['re?d??nt] adj. 發光的，容光煥發的

11) impressed [?m'prest] adj. 受感動的

12) cozy ['k??z?] adj. 舒適的，溫馨的

13) entree ['?ntre?] n. 主菜

14) nostalgic [n?'st?ld??k] adj. 引人懷舊的

15) return the favor回報，報答

16) agreeable [?'gri??bl] adj. 令人愉快的

17) extraordinary [?k'str??d?n?r?] adj. 特別的

18) catch up on（事后）得到關于……的消息

19) massive ['m?s?v] adj.嚴重的

20) envelope ['env?l??p] n. 信封

21) receipt [r?'si?t] n. 收據

22) attached [?'t?t?t] adj. 附加的

23) in advance 提前

24) plate [ple?t] n. 〈美〉一道菜

25) put off 推遲

和我結婚21年后，我的妻子提出讓我帶另一位女士去吃飯看電影。她說，“我愛你，但我知道還有另一個女人也愛你，并且她很希望能與你一起度過美好的時光。”

我妻子想讓我去探望的女人就是我母親—她已守寡了19年，而出于我工作的需要，再加上還得照顧我的三個孩子，我只能偶爾去看看她。那晚，我打了一通電話邀請她出去吃飯看電影。“怎么了，你還好嗎？”她問道。

我母親是那種典型的女人，會覺得深夜來電或突然的邀約都是壞消息的預兆。“我覺得與您一起度過一段小時光會很愉悅，”我回答道。“只有我們兩人。”她想了一會，然后說，“我非常愿意。”

那天周五下班后，在我開車去接她的路上，我有點兒緊張。當我到她家時，我注意到她似乎對我們這次的約會也感到緊張。她穿著外套在屋內門后等著我。她燙了頭發，還穿上了那條她在慶祝最后一個結婚紀念日時所穿的裙子。她那像天使般容光煥發的臉上洋溢著笑容。“我告訴我的朋友們說我要與兒子一同外出，她們都很感動呢，”她在上車時說道。“他們都迫不及待地想要知道我們的約會過程。”

那家餐館環境很好，也很舒適。我母親把她自己當成第一夫人那樣挽著我的手臂。我們坐下后，我必須要將菜單讀出聲來，因為我母親只能看到大號的字。在讀到主菜的時候，我抬眼看見母親在目不轉睛地看著我。一個令我懷舊的笑容在她嘴角浮現。“你小的時候，都是我來讀菜單的。”她說道。“現在你是時候休息一下，該輪到我來讀給你聽了，”我回答說。在用餐期間，我們的對話都很愉快—沒談什么特別的事，只是說了說各自最近的生活。我們講了很多話，以致錯過了電影。后來回到她家時，她說，“我會再約你出去的，但要先征得你的同意才行。”我答應了。

“你們的晚餐約會怎么樣？”當我到家時，我的妻子問我。“感覺很好啊，比我所預想的好很多，”我回答說。

幾天后，我母親由于嚴重的心臟病發作去世了。這件事來得如此突然，我還沒有機會為她做任何事。一段時間后，我收到了上次我和我母親就餐的那家飯店寄來的信—里面有一張收據的副本。內附的紙條上寫著：“我提前把賬單結了。我不確定我下次還能不能去；但不管怎樣，我提前訂了兩道菜—一道是給你的，另一道是給你妻子的。你永遠不會知道那晚對我來說意味著什么。我愛你，兒子。”

就在那時，我明白了及時表達的重要性，及時表達“我愛你”，把時間留給那些我們愛的人—這是他們應得的。生活中沒有任何事能比你的家人更重要。把時間留給他們，因為這些事是不能被推遲到“下次”的。

家人需要陪伴

翻譯：淺由吳雨奇