My aunt died back in about 2003. She was eighty-four and so was my uncle. When she passed he was devastated. They had been married for over 60 years. We expected him to pass on quickly after she died. He attended his church more frequently and his mourning was nearly unbearable to witness. His only daughter lived clear across the country so he had only the rest of the extended family and church family to comfort him.
我伯母大约在2003年过世。她已是84岁高龄,我伯父与她同龄。伯母的过世对伯父来讲是个沉重的打击。他们结婚超越 60年了。伯母过世后,大家以为伯父非常快也会跟着离开。伯父更加频繁地去教会,他的悲恸几乎让人不忍目睹。他唯一的女儿一直住在离他非常远的另一个地方,因而他只能从家族的远亲与教会同伴那里寻求慰藉。
My cousin talked him into selling the house that he and my aunt had built together about twenty five years before. It was very hard to part with the home they built together. He was going to move into an apartment, but at the last moment, my cousin and he saw a new house for sale, that was close to his business. She helped him buy furniture and a flat screen television. He had not watched television for years because of his religion. He got back into watching the news and history channel and religious programs when my aunt was in the nursing home. He was like a kid with a new toy but still grieved horribly for my aunt.
我堂姐游说伯父卖掉那栋他和伯母大概在25年前一块建造的房屋。要离开他两个一块建造的 “家”,这对伯父而言举步维艰。他筹备搬进一间公寓,不过就在最后一刻,我堂姐和他看中了一栋待售的新房,而且这房屋离伯父的公司非常近。堂姐帮伯父买来了家具和一台平板电视机。因为他的宗教信仰,伯父已经不少年没看电视了。他好似一个拿到一件新玩具的孩子那样高兴,不过对于伯母的离去,他还是很伤心。
One day he called my cousin who was living in Texas and told her that he reconnected with a lady from a church that he and my aunt went to forty years previously. She played piano and his church was looking for new music. Her husband had died about seven years previously. He said he just wanted someone to go out to dinner with and spend time with. We were happy for them but had no idea how it would turn out. They were both almost eighty-seven years old.
有一天,伯父打电话给我那住在得克萨斯州的堂姐,告诉她说他和一位女性重新获得了联系,而那位女性来自他和伯母40多年前常去的一间教堂。那位女性会弹钢琴,而伯父所在的教会正要找新的音乐伴奏。那位女性的老公大约七年前过世了。伯父说,他只不过想有个人一块出去吃饭,一块消磨时光。大家非常为他们两个开心,却不了解结果会怎么样。他们两个都将近87岁高龄。
They were like love-birds and spent as much time together as they could. They both had one child each, she a son, he a daughter.They had the same birthday although her son was a couple of years older. She had a housethat her father built for her when she got married to her first husband. She was content there. 他们两个好似一对恩爱夫妻一般,尽量多地在一块共度时光。他们各自都有一个孩子,她有个儿子,而他有个女儿。她有栋房屋,是她爸爸在她和第一任老公结婚时为她建的。她在里面住得非常认可。
The other fly in the ointment was that they were both very busy people. They both still worked! They were in their middle eighties and both had their own family businesses. She worked for her son who took over the family business and he had his own business.
另一处美中不足的是,他们两个都是很忙碌的人。他们两个都仍然在工作!他们都已80多岁,都还有各自的家族业务。她为已经接管了家族业务的儿子工作,而他有我们的公司。
The clash in their relationship came when they neither wanted to leave their respective churches. She went to her Baptist church that she had attended for many years and he went to his which was a Pentacosplaytal. They decided to remain friends but nothing more. He was broken hearted, but felt that his religion was the only way. She didn't want to leave her church and didn't like the extreme of his.
他们都不想脱离各自的教会,这使得他们的关系出现了冲突。她去的是已经加入多年的浸礼会,而他去的是五旬节派教会。他们决定只做朋友,别无他求。对此,伯父伤心不已,不过他感到我们的信仰是唯一的抚慰方法。而她不想离开自己所在的教会,也不喜欢他的教会那样偏激。
Before too long they realized that they did not want to be apart. They would find a new church together. They planned to marry. When he took her to a jewelry store and bought her a diamond, the employees were so impressed that they had a big write up in our own local paper, "The Truth," for Valentines' Day. They prepared for their wedding. They moved the wedding date up because neither wanted to wait any longer to "be together,"and it was not proper to "be together" without being married.
不久,两人意识到他们并不想分开。他们要一块加入一个新的教会,并计划结婚。当他携带她前往一家珠宝店给她买钻戒时,那些店员们都很感动,写了一大篇文章发表在大家当地的报纸上,标题为“情人节‘真谛’”。他们为结婚典礼做着筹备。因为他们两个都迫不及待地想要“在一块”,而不结婚就不是严格意义上的“在一块”,所以他们把婚期提前了。
They got married in her house, where they decided they would live. Her son and daughter-in-law stood up with her. His daughter and ninety-three year old brother and his girlfriend stood up with him. It was such a beautiful refreshing thing to see, two people who you would have thought had pretty much lived their lives, were beginning a new one together.I have never seen my uncle happier. He is still in love and she loves him as much as he loves her. I am so happy for them both and we eagerly accepted her and her family into ours.
他们在她的房屋里举行了结婚典礼,并决定结婚以后一块住在那里。这是一件看来这样美好而让人欣喜的事情——两位你原以为已经度过了大半生的老人马上在一块开始新生活。我从未看到我伯父像目前这般快乐幸福。他仍然沉浸在爱河中,而且他们彼此深爱着他们。
If you ever think that it is too late for you to find true love or your life is over, you should see more relationships like theirs. They are both still working and they have been married now
for almost two years. They are both going to be ninety in the next two months, and still work part time. They love their life together. They still maintain their own home and go to church, out to eat and with their family and friends. It is never too late to find true love, again, or for the first time!
假如你曾觉得,探寻真爱对你来讲已经太迟,或者你的生活已经结束了,那样你应该多看看像他们两个如此的浪漫故事。他们都还在工作,而且他们目前已经结婚将近两年了。再过两个月,他们两个都将迎来90岁高寿,他们热爱两人在一块的生活。同时,他们仍然维系着各自的家庭、一块去教堂、和他们的家人朋友们一块外出聚餐。探寻真爱从来不会太迟,无论是再一次还是首次!
Note:
fly in the ointment:美中不足
