TELL MOMMY YOU LOVE HER

John had been on the road visiting clients formore than three weeks. He couldn’t wait to get back to Ohio to see hiswife and children. It was coming up on Mother’s Day, and he usuallytried to make it “back home”, but this year he was just too tired. Hewas in a small town just outside of Little Rock when he drove by aflower shop. He said to himself, “I know what I will do; I’ll send Momsome roses.”
He went into the smallshop and saw a young man talking to the clerk. “How many roses can Iget for six dollars, ma’am?” the boy asked. The clerk was trying toexplain that roses were expensive. Maybe the young man would be happywith carnations1.
“No. I have tohave roses,” he said. “My Mom was sick so much last year and I didn’tget to spend much time with her. I want to get something special. Ithas to be red roses, because that’s her favorite.” He was emphatic2.
Theclerk looked up at John and was just shaking her head. Something insideof John was touched by the boy’s voice. He wanted to get those roses sobadly. John had been blessed in his business, and he looked at theclerk and silently mouthed that he would pay for the boy’s roses.
Theclerk looked at the young man and said, “Okay, I will give you a dozenred roses for your six dollars.” The young man almost jumped into theair. He took the flowers and ran from the store. It was worth the extrathirty-five dollars just to see that kind of excitement.
Johnordered his own flowers and had the clerk be sure that delivery wouldinclude a note telling his mother how much he loved her. As he droveaway from the shop, he was feeling very good. He caught a light abouttwo blocks3 from the shop. As he waited at the light, he saw the youngboy walking down the sidewalk. He watched him cross the street andenter a park through two huge gates. Suddenly, he realized it wasn’t apark. It was a cemetery4. He could see the young man turn in there bythe gate and walk along the fence.
Thelight changed, and John slowly crossed the intersection5. He pulledover6 and on an impulse坰7 got out and began to follow the boy down thefence line. John was on the sidewalk, thirty or forty steps behind theboy, who walked inside the cemetery fence. The young man stopped by asmall monument and went to his knees. He carefully laid the roses onthe grave and began to sob. John felt like an intruder8 but he couldn’tleave. He stared at the little boy’s heaving9 body and listened to hismuted10 crying.
As he cried, heheard the young man speak, “Mommy, oh Mommy, why didn’t I tell you howmuch I love you? Why didn’t I tell you one more time? Jesus, please,find my Mommy. Tell my Mommy I love her.”
Johnturned, tears in his eyes, and walked back to his car. He drove quicklyto the florist11 and told her he would take the flowers personally. Hewanted to be sure and tell his mother one more time just how much heloved her.
告诉妈妈你爱她
　　约翰外出拜访客户已经三个多星期了。他迫不及待要赶回俄亥俄州，去见他的妻子和孩子。马上就到母亲节了，通常他都会尽力赶回家中。但是今年他实在是太累了。在小石城外的一个小镇上，他驾车路过了一家花店。他对自己说:“我知道我要做什么，我要给母亲寄一束玫瑰花。”
　　他走进小花店，看见一个少年正在和店员说话。“小姐，6美元能买多少支玫瑰花？”少年问道。店员努力解释说玫瑰花很贵，或许这位少年应该买些康乃馨。
　　“不，我就要玫瑰花，”他说。“我母亲去年病得很厉害，而我没有花太多时间陪她。我想买点特别的东西。必须是红玫瑰，因为那是她最喜欢的花。”他加强了语气。
　　店员抬头看了看约翰，无奈地摇了摇头。男孩的话触动了约翰的内心，他是那么地渴望得到那些玫瑰花。约翰在生意场上一直一帆风顺，他看着店员，嘴唇动了动，暗示他将为这个男孩付钱。
　　店员看了看少年，说道:“好吧，6美元这打红玫瑰给你了。”少年几乎跳了起来。他拿着玫瑰冲出了花店。这种兴奋的场面值得花那其余的 35美元来欣赏。
　　约翰订好自己的花，让店员务必在递送的花束里放一张便笺，告诉母亲他有多么爱她。当他开车离开花店时，他感觉好极了。在离花店两个街区远的红灯前停了下来。在他等待绿灯的时候，他看见刚才的少年走在人行道上。他看着他穿过了马路，通过两扇大门，走进了一个公园。突然，他意识到那不是公园，而是一个墓地。他看到那个少年拐进大门，沿着栅栏走着。
　　绿灯亮了，约翰慢慢地驶过十字路口。他把车停到了路边，一冲动便下了车，沿着栅栏跟在那位少年后面。约翰走在人行道上，距离前面的少年约三四十步远，少年则在栅栏里面走着。在一个小小的墓碑前，他停下然后跪了下来。他小心翼翼地把花放在墓前，开始抽泣。约翰忽然觉得自己像是一个入侵者，但他却无法抽身。他看着小男孩起伏的身躯，听着他无声的哭泣。
　　哭着哭着，他听到那位少年开口道:“妈妈，哦妈妈，为什么我那时没有告诉你我有多么爱你？为什么我没有再多说一次？主啊，求你了，请找到我的妈妈，告诉妈妈我爱她。”
　　约翰转过身去，眼含泪水回到了他的车里。他飞快地驶回花店，告诉店员他打算亲自去送花。他要确定母亲拿到花，还想再次告诉母亲他有多么爱她。
1. carnation n. 康乃馨
2. emphatic a. 强调的，着重的
3. block n. 街区
4. cemetery n. 墓地，公墓
5. intersection n. 道路交叉口，十字路口
6. pull over  开到路边
7. impulse  n. 冲动，一时的念头
8. intruder n. 入侵者
9. heave  v. （有节奏地）起伏，鼓起
10. muted  a. 模糊不清的，无声的
11. florist n. 花商，花店

[ 本帖最后由 carmen 于 2008-7-23 22:52 编辑 ]

Isn't it amazing how one person, sharing oneidea, at the right time and place can change the course of your life shistory? This is certainly what happened in my life. When I was 14, Iwas hitchhiking from Houston, Texas, through El Paso on my way toCalifornia. I was following my dream, journeying with the sun. I was ahigh school dropout with learning disabilities and was set on surfingthe biggest waves in the world, first in California and then in Hawaii,where I would later live. Uponreaching downtown El Paso, I met an old man, a bum, on the streetcorner. He saw me walking, stopped me and questioned me as I passed by.He asked me if I was running away from home, I suppose because I lookedso young. I told him, "Not exactly, sir," since my father had given mea ride to the freeway in Houston and given me his blessings whilesaying, "It is important to follow your dream and what is in yourheart. Son. "
The bum then asked meif he could buy me a cup of coffee. I told him, "No, sir, but a sodawould be great." We walked to a corner malt4 shop and sat down on acouple of swiveling stools while we enjoyed our drinks.
Afterconversing for a few minutes, the friendly bum told me to follow him.He told me that he had something grand to show me and share with me. Wewalked a couple of blocks until we came upon the downtown El PasoPublic Library.
We walked up itsfront steps and stopped at a small information stand. Here the bumspoke to a smiling old lady, and asked her if she would be kind enoughto watch my things for a moment while he and I entered the library. Ileft my belongings with this grandmotherly figure and entered into thismagnificent hall of learning.
Thebum first led me to a table and asked me to sit down and wait for amoment while he looked for something special amongst the shelves. A fewmoments later, he returned with a couple of old books under his armsand set them on the table. He then sat down beside me and spoke. Hestarted with a few statements that were very special and that changedmy life. He said, "There are two things that I want to teach you, youngman, and they are these:
"Number oneis to never judge a book by its cover, for a cover can fool you. "Hefollowed with, "I ll bet you think I m a bum, don t you, young man?"
I said, "Well, uh, yes, I guess so, sir. "
"Well,young man, I ve got a little surprise for you. I am one of thewealthiest men in the world. I have probably everything any man couldever want. I originally come from the Northeast and have all the thingsthat money can buy. But a year ago, my wife passed away, bless hersoul, and since then I have been deeply reflecting upon life. Irealized there were certain things I had not yet experienced inlife,one of which was what it would be like to live like a bum on thestreets. I made a commitment11 to myself to do exactly that for oneyear. For the past year.1 have been going from city to city doing justthat. So, you see, don t ever judge a book by its cover, for a covercan fool you.
"Number two is tolearn how to read, my boy. For there is only one thing that people cant take away from you, and that is your wisdom. " At that moment, hereached forward, grabbed my right hand in his and put them upon thebooks he d pulled from the shelves. They were the writings of Plato13and Aristotle-immortal classics from ancient times.
Thebum then led me back past the smiling old woman near the entrance, downthe steps and back on the streets near where we first met. His partingrequest was for me to never forget what he taught me.
I haven’t.