May your heart be strongg

楊沐辰

I may be a bit old school but I think that people who store all of their pictures on their smart phones are missing out on something. There is nothing like seeing a loved one’s smiling face looking down on you from a picture frame on your wall. It is both comforting and reassuring，almost like they are watching over you while you work at your desk.

As I work at my own desk I can see my Mom’s picture smiling down on me. She left us too soon. She was only 55 years old when cancer took her. If one’s years here were based on merit then she should have lived to be over 100.

My Dad’s kind smile is next to hers. It has only been a few years since he passed. Sometimes I still pick up the telephone wanting to call him and tell him something that has just happened to me only to remember that he is gone.

My Nana’s picture is there too，holding the 90 years young sign at her birthday party 16 years ago. How I wish I could walk into her kitchen again，have a talk，and share a big slice of homemade Italian bread with her.

Sometimes looking at these pictures gives me a touch of melancholy and sadness. I still miss them all and I don’t feel ready to be the oldest generation yet. Most of the time，though，I only feel the warmth and joy that comes from a million loving memories that these pictures bring back.

It makes me feel blessed knowing that I had them all in my life for the years that I did. It makes me want to follow their loving example in my own life as well.

A lot of people say that you have to have a hard heart to get through life. Others say a soft heart is better. I myself think that a strong heart is best. We need a heart that loves through the pain. We need a heart that keeps loving even when we lose the people we love the most.

May your heart be strong then. May your love shine from your pictures and from your life.

我的思想多少有點守舊，總覺得那些手機里存著的照片少了些什么，不如將那些所愛之人的照片掛在墻上，再沒有比看著他們的笑容，讓人覺得舒服安心了。就好像他們都在看著你工作一樣。

在我的工作桌上放著母親的照片，工作時照片中的母親對著我微笑。她走得太早，55歲那年因癌癥去世，假使以一個人的美德來決定她的壽命的話，那她肯定能活到100歲。

有著父親慈祥笑容的照片就排在母親照片的旁邊，他去世沒有幾年。有時候，我仍拿起電話想要打給他，告訴他才發生的事情，才意識到他已經不在人世了。

我奶奶的照片也在墻上，那張照片拍攝于16年前，是她90歲大壽聚會的照片。我多想再走進她的廚房，和她聊聊天，一起分一塊自制的意大利面包吃。

有時候看著這些照片讓我憂傷難過，我依然思念著他們，我還沒有準備好成為家庭中最年老的一代。但是大部分的時間這些照片帶給我的是無盡的愛的回憶，讓我感到溫暖美好。

他們在我生命中的出現讓我感到幸福，他們是愛的楷模，讓我在自己的生活中學習效仿。

很多人都說度過一生需要一顆堅硬的心，另一些人認為內心要柔軟才好。我覺得一顆堅強的心是最好的，她讓我們在痛苦中得到愛，哪怕失去摯愛也繼續把愛傳承。

愿你擁有一顆堅強之心，愿你所愛之人，不光在照片中，還在你的生活中永存生輝。