Daddy just didn’t know how to show love. It was Mom who held the family together. He just went to work every day and came home; she’d have a list of sins we’d committed and he’d scold us about them.
Once when I stole a candy bar, he made me take it back and tell the man I stole it and that I’d pay for it. But it was Mom who understood I was just a kid.
I broke my leg once on the playground swing and it was Mom who held me in her arms all the way to the hospital. Dad pulled the car right up to the door of the emergency room and when they asked him to move it saying the space was reserved for emergency vehicles, He shouted, “What do you think this is? A tour bus?”
At my birthday parties, Dad always seemed sort of out of place, He just busied himself blowing up balloons, setting up tables, and running errands, it was Mom who carried the cake with the candles on it for me to blow out.
When I leaf through picture albums, people always ask, “What does your Dad took like?” “Who knows? He was always fiddling around with the camera taking everyone else’s picture. I must have a zillion pictures of Mom and me smiling together.”
I remember when Mom told him to teach me how to ride a bicycle. I told him not to let it go, but he said it was time. I fell and Mom ran to pick me up, but he waved her off. I was so mad that I showed him, got right back on that bike and rode it myself. He didn’t even feel embarrassed and just smiled.
When I went to college, Mom did all the writing. He just sent checks and a little note about how great his lawn looked now that I wasn’t playing football on it.
Whenever I called home, he acted like he wanted to talk, but he always said, “I’ll get your mother.”When I got married, it was Mom who cried. He just blew his nose loudly and left the room. All my life he said, “Where are you going? What time are you coming home? No, you cannot go.”
Is it possible he showed it and didn’t recognize it ?
爸爸向我们表达了爱,难道他只是没有意识到吗?
A special letter
一封特殊的信
Dear World:
亲爱的世界:
My son starts school today.
我的儿子今天就要开始上学读书了。
It's going to be strange and new to him for a while, and I wish you would sort of treat him gently.
一时之间,他会感觉陌生而又新鲜。我希望你能待他温柔一些。
You see, up to now, he's been king of the roost.
你明白,到现在为止,他一直是家中的小皇帝。
He's been boss of the backyard.
一直是后院的王者。
I have always been around to repair his wounds, and to soothe his feelings.
我一直在他身旁,忙着为他治疗伤口,哄他开心。
But now--things are going to be different.
但是现在--一切都将不同了。
This morning, he's going to walk down the front steps, wave his hand and start on his great adventure that will probably include wars and tragedy and sorrow.
To live his life in the world he has to live in will require faith and love and courage.
既然活在这个世上,他就需要信念、爱心和勇气。
So, World, I wish you would sort of take him by his young hand and teach him the things he will have to know.
所以,世界啊,我希望你能够时不时握住他稚嫩的小手,传授他所应当知晓的事情。
Teach him - but gently, if you can.
教育他吧--而如果可能的话,温柔一些。
Teach him that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every crooked politician there is a dedicated leader; that for every enemy there is a friend.
教他知道,每有恶人之地,必有豪杰所在;每有奸诈小人,必有献身义士;每见一敌人,必有一友在侧。
Teach him the wonders of books.
教他感受书本的神奇魅力。
Give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on the green hill.
给他时间静思大自然中亘古绵传之奥秘:空中的飞鸟,日光里的蜜蜂,青山上的簇簇繁花。
Teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat.
教他知道,失败远比欺骗更为光荣。
Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong.
教他坚定自我的信念,哪怕人人予以否认。
Teach him to sell his brawn and brains to the highest bidder, but never to put a price on his heart and soul.
教他可以最高价付出自己的精力和智慧,但绝不可出卖良心和灵魂。
Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob...and to stand and fight if he thinks he's right.
教他置暴徒的喧嚣于度外……并在自觉正确之时挺身而战。
Teach him gently, World, but don't coddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.
温柔地教导他吧,世界,但是不要放纵他,因为只有烈火的考验才能炼出真钢。
This is a big order, World, but see what you can do.
One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, “Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.” The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.
The people stared — how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought? The young man looked at the old man’s heart and saw its state and laughed. “You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.”
“Yes,” said the old man, “Yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love — I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared. Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges — giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space in my heart. So now do you see what true beauty is? ”
The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands.
The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.
老人接过馈赠,把它放进自己的心里。然后他从自己疤痕累累的心里掏出一块,放在年轻人心里的那个伤口上。
The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his.