Susan著 小哭译
我可以非常肯定地说，周四晚上的聚会是我这次度假中最美好的部分，也是最甜蜜的部分。我不知道那天晚上我怎么竟能没有哭，而我现在就非常地想哭。回想起来，我是那么漫不经心地离开了那场聚会，而它实际上对我来说却意义非凡。当然，也许正是我的漫不经心才让我得到了最多的快乐。如果当时我尝试着去“珍惜每一秒钟”、想着这个夜晚可能将成为我上大学前最后一次看望老朋友的机会的话，那我一个晚上都会非常地悲伤，根本就不可能玩得有多高兴。
聚会于周四的晚上在摩顿的洛丽家举行。前一天晚上我刚刚来到波士顿地区，并将于周日离开。如果不考虑我很快就要再走，这个聚会就好像是个“欢迎回来”的聚会，但事实上，它也是一个告别聚会。也许我管它叫“欢迎暨欢送”会更好。不管叫什么名了吧，它是我曾经有过的最好的聚会之一，甚至好过我的生日聚会。虽然聚会将在晚上六点还是七点开始，可是我和妈妈（当然，还有弟弟）二点钟就去了洛丽家。洛丽是我妈妈最好的朋友，而罗文和桑妮（洛丽的儿子和女儿）都是我非常要好的朋友。
聚会最重要的时刻之一是重逢的那一刻。当我终于亲眼看到我那些已经一年半没有见过的朋友们时……真是太惊喜了。我惊讶于他们虽然有那么多的变化，可似乎还是原来的样子。过去的这一年半的时间里，我已经变化了那么多，而他们却还像我记忆中的样子！只是有一点点的不同而已。发瓦兹变高了，声音低沉了，一眼看去，他和以前那么地不同。但和他多待一会儿之后，我就意识到，他还是那个搞笑的小家伙，说着最搞笑的事情把大家逗得哈哈大笑。他讲话的方式非常地古板，真的很搞笑！我想有的时候他是故意那么做的，但也许不是。不管是不是吧，他那个样子看起来非常地滑稽。我坚信发瓦兹一点也不会因为我们笑他而气恼。
跟每一个人的重逢都不太相同，但总有什么是一样的。相互问候的时段过后，我们马上就回到了多年前的样子，根本就没有任何地不适应，好像我从来就不曾离开过一样！我讲笑话、他们也讲笑话、我们一起大笑、玩游戏、聊天……我惊讶于这种舒服的感觉。我忘记了自己曾经多么地想念他们——发瓦兹、罗文、桑妮、列姆和沃兰妮，也忘记了我们曾经是多么好的朋友。好像我搬家这个事儿只是让我们更亲密无间了！和他们在一起玩令我快乐无比。吃完晚饭和甜点后，我们在后院一直玩到夜里十一点！！！家长们也待在那里，聊着他们喜欢的话题。
另一个重要的时刻，是在我们开心地忙着玩乐期间，能够停下来抽空说上一两句话。有人问了一些有关芝加哥的问题，也有人说了一些他们是多么地想念我的话，还有人说我过来看他们让他们很是开心。有些话会把我像从酒醉状态中摇醒一样地带到现实中来——现在我只是一个访客、我很快就要离开这里，这份快乐只属于这个夜晚。那时，我的心情会有一点点悲伤，但是很快，我就又高兴起来了。我在那时并不是非常地感伤。然而，现在回想起来，我突然间意识到，我的朋友们说的是多么真真切切的现实啊！在聚会的过程中，我好像被这份友情的酒灌醉了或是怎么了，我无法清醒地思考，所以我一点也没有意识到这个聚会实际上是多么地苦乐参半！我只是想着“重逢”的部分，没有去想“再见”的部分。所以，我没有抓住每一秒钟并珍惜我和朋友们说的每一个字。我把聚会搞得看起来没有它应该有的那么重要，但是我想正是因为如此，我才得到了更多的快乐。
告别是最伤心的一个时刻，也是最重要的时刻之一。接近午夜时，我们终于不得不说再见了。这很伤心，真的很伤心，可也没像它应有的那么伤心。好像我的大脑知道我无法面对所有的悲伤一下子涌过来，所以它麻木了我的感觉。然而，在返回芝加哥的路上，所有这些被阻住的感觉都冲向了我……一件能够安慰我的事儿是，事实上，他们都有邮箱，我们可以通过邮件联系，所以，我们并不会永久地失去联系。
再次见到我的朋友令我快乐无比，他们为我举办的聚会也温馨异常，我想那是我生命中最美好的夜晚。一想这事儿，我就又开始想哭了。文字已经无法表达我在彼时和此时的感觉，我甚至觉得尝试去表达这些情感都是一件很糟糕的事儿。所有我能说的就是——那确实是一个超级棒的夜晚！
【小哭介绍背景】重回摩顿是我们这趟旅行的重点，而怀念一个地方常常是因为那里有一些事情和一些人让我们无法忘怀。在摩顿，我最不能忘的人是洛丽。如同上次搬家一样，这次我的眼泪也是因为离开大西洋的那片沙滩、和她再次说再见时而无法控制的。一个人一生能遇到多少个人在你最贫穷最落魄的时候会和你真心换命地相处呢？那时我初到美国，怀着小宝，不会开车，她在操场上和我相识，之后就带着我和我的家庭走进她的家庭，走进她们的生活。随着小宝的出生，我从医院回到那个出租屋时，一下车，就看到窗户上、门上贴满了贴纸，院子里插上了庆祝的小旗，欢迎我带小宝回家！而在我前年离开摩顿的那天，最后一顿午饭是她在一家人帮我搞了一上午卫生之后，匆匆忙忙跑回家为我们做的三明治，那天她让我听听她家里座机的留言，那是Susan爸爸在小宝出生后打给她的电话，她说她一直不舍得擦掉，她要一直为我们保留…….我几乎认识她所有常来的亲戚和朋友，她家里的任何可以邀请外人的聚会都会向我们家开放，如果没有她，我不知道了解美国、顺利生活这件事情得有多艰难。事实上我们也还是有很多的困难，但是因为有洛丽一家，再难也感觉温馨无比。
八月底入住摩顿，九月份认识洛丽，之后每一个重要的节假日、生日、庆祝活动、社区活动和课外班汇报表演，就没有她不叫上我们家一起去的时候！！我是多么地幸运，这一点也许只能用神迹来解释！！！阿朵说的那个埃塞俄比亚的餐馆，也是洛丽带着我们家去吃的。在摩顿的三年半，她就跟一个处处照顾我的姐姐一样，并且，还是一个能力超强的姐姐，这样的美国人并不多见，但我一到摩顿就给遇着了。
而Susan，她难忘摩顿，是因为她的拍片俱乐部给她所带来的所有的一切——电视台、朋友、老师和同学们的家长和发生的所有的事情！当然，也有她曾经提到过的大海——大西洋！看到她重回摩顿是那么地开心，我真的觉得这趟旅行非常地值得！
晚上的聚会，来的不只是俱乐部的成员家庭，还有洛丽的一些好朋友，当年她带着我们家去过很多她的朋友家的聚会，于是我们和她的亲戚和朋友也都成了朋友。而我们搬家后，她有一次在电话里说，摩顿于你们，不是仅仅在这里吃饭睡觉的地方，是你在这儿生孩子养孩子的地方，是你们生活着的地方，你们一家已经属于我们这个社区，你们已经融进了我们这个社区。搬家后为着房租的事情，我曾经找过摩顿新当选的市长出面解决，在他还只是议员的时候我因为勇于提出异议而和他相识。那个市长在一封邮件里曾经说过，摩顿为曾经有过我们这样的市民而骄傲，因为我们确实真真切切地在那里生活过——积极地参与社区的活动，推动一些和孩子们相关的项目，没把自己当外人。
然而，拿到绿卡后 ，我们还是不得不离开了……那不是我最想生活于其中的地方，但却是我最难以忘怀的地方，那是我们一家人在美国共同的故乡……
附上英文原文：
The best part of my vacation was most definitely the party on Thursday evening. It was the sweetest part too. I don’t know how I managed not to cry that night. I feel like crying now, when I finally realize just how significant that party was, and when I think back about how casual I had dismissed it as. But maybe I had the most fun just being casual with my friends. If I had tried to “treasure every moment” and think about how that night was going to be probably the last time I’ll see my friends until college, I would’ve been sad the whole night, and not able to enjoy myself.
The party took place on Thursday evening at Lori’s house in Malden. I had just got to the Boston area the night before, and would be leaving on Sunday. It was like a welcome-back party, except I’m going to be leaving right after, so it’s also like a farewell party. Maybe I should call it a hello-and-goodbye party? Whatever its name, it was one of the best parties I’ve ever been to. Even better than my birthday party. Though the party would be starting at six or seven, me and my mom (and my brother, of course) went to Lori’s house at two. Lori is my mom’s best friend, and Rowan and Sunny (Lori’s son and daughter) are also very close friends of mine.
One of the most significant moments about the party was the hellos. That moment when I finally see, in person, my friend I haven’t seen for a year and a half… it’s a amazing. I keep on getting amazed at how much they’ve changed, yet still remained the same. I feel like I’ve changed so much over the past year and a half, yet they’re still just like I remember! Just a tiny bit different. Fawaz got taller, his voice got deeper, and at first glance, he seemed so different from before. But once I got to spend more time with him, I realized he’s still that funny little guy who would say the funniest things and make people laugh. He talks in a really formal way, and it’s so funny! I think he sometimes does that on purpose. Or maybe not. Either way, it’s hilarious, and I’m sure Fawaz isn’t offended by us laughing at him a little bit.
That “hello” moment with each person was different every time. But one thing always remained the same. Right after that “hello” moment has passed, we were right back to where we were years ago. There was no awkwardness at all, and it was as if I had never left! I made jokes, they made jokes, we laughed, and played games, we talked… the comfort it gave me surprised me. I had forgotten how much I missed them—Fawaz, Rowan, Sunny, Liam, and Valeny. I had also forgotten how good of friends we all were. It seems like me moving away has just knitted us closer! I had lots of fun hanging out with them. After dinner outside and dessert, we hanged out until ELEVEN AT NIGHT!!! The parents were there too, they talked to eachother about whatever parents talked about.
Another important moment is: when we finally pause to a while in our hustle to have as much fun as we can, someone would ask something about what it’s like in Chicago. Or, someone would suddenly say something about how much they’ve missed me, or how glad they are that I visited. Someone would jolt us back to reality about the fact that I was only visiting, that I would leave soon, that this fun is just for that night. During those time, the mood got a bit sad, but soon, it perks right back up. I didn’t get very emotional during those moments. However, now that I think back on it, I suddenly realized just how true the things my friends said were. During the party, it was as if I was drunk on friendship or something, and I couldn't think clearly, so I didn’t realized how bittersweet the party actually was. I was only thinking about the “hello again” part, not the “goodbye” part. So, I didn’t hold on to every second of the party and treasure every word me and my friends said. I made the party seem less significant than it should’ve been, but I think I had more fun that way.
The saddest and also one of the most important moments of the party was the goodbyes. When it was approaching midnight, we finally had to say out goodbyes. It was sad. Really sad. Though not as sad as it would’ve been. It’s like my brain knew I wouldn’t be able to cope if all the sadness was rushed back to me at once, so it numbed my feelings. Then, as I was on the road back at Chicago, all those blocked off feelings rushed back at me. One thing that comforts me, though, is the fact that they all have e-mail. We would be able to e-mail eachother, so it’s not as if we’d loose contact forever.
I had a lot of fun meeting my friends again, and the party they threw for me was really sweet. I think I had one of the best nights of my life, and now, I’m starting to feel like crying again just thinking about it. Words cannot express how I felt then and how I feel now, and I think I did a really bad job even trying to express those feelings. All I can say is that it was truly an amazing night.
| 心桥 (2013-09-10 05:45:54) |
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Susan 写得很感人，您分享的经历更让人感动。好人真是有神护佑啊!今年夏天去 Michigan 看望的忘年交是我生命中的"洛丽"。Murray 夫妇1991年参加退休教师旅游团去中国，其中一个项目是和当地大学生交流(对我们外语系的学生来讲是练习口语的机会)。当时我被安排和 Murray 太太交谈，忘记当时谈什么了，只记得很愉快并留下通讯地址。1996年我来美国留学，他们盛情邀请我先到 Michigan，介绍我给他们庞大的家族(6个孩子，13个孙子孙女，2个曾孙)，教我美国的礼仪文化等，并在一周后开车送我到费城校园 (当年他们76岁高龄)。他们的家也是我在美国的第一个“家”，他们见证了我这17年的成长，在我最失落时给我力量。今年夏天去给 Murray 太太庆祝九十三岁生日，才有机会在 South Bend 机场见到您全家，真是有缘! |
| 周小哭 (2013-09-10 13:18:43) |
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谢谢心桥留言。这一篇之前没有人留言，却也有不少的点击率，真的挺让我意外的。我想这是多么让人容易共鸣的一个话题啊！谁的一生中没有受助于人啊！我在写背景介绍时，写着写着就跑题，就想讲洛丽曾经如何地帮助过我，真是写本书都讲不完：）不管怎么努力，最后都没有办法不把背景介绍写成我自己的人生故事...... |