第49章 一百对零

our father right now.”To him there had been no other decision to make.Every week I would receive a letter telling me all about how the farm was doing and inquiring about my parents and how we were all doing.Little was said about his sadness of being alone，or of missing his new bride，except at the very end of his letters where an u****takable “I love you”was written.Teenage dream letters would have been filled with remarks of undying love and pain of missing me，but his letters were simple words of reality.

    在我们结婚仅7个月的时候，我得到消息：我母亲在与癌症作抗争，恐怕活不了多久了。尽管有75头牛和1400亩地要照顾，但我丈夫读完电报就悲伤地说：“亲爱的，我去给你订票，你收拾好行李。你现在是该和你父母在一起。”对于他来说没有什么别的决定可作。每周我会收到他的来信，告诉我农场的情况，并询问我父母如何，我们全家人怎么样。他很少流露他孤独一人的悲伤，或他如何思念他的新婚妻子，只是在每封信的结尾都清楚无误地写了“我爱你”。我十几岁时想像的梦中情书应该满纸都是诉说永恒的爱和思念我的痛苦，但是我丈夫的信就是简简单单描述现实生活的几行字。4个月后，举行完葬礼，在和我父亲与兄弟一同落实了最后事宜之后，我返回爱达荷州。我知道我丈夫会到机场来接我。

    Four months later，after the funeral and final matters were taken care of with my father and brother，I returned to Idaho where I knew my husband would be at the airport to meet me.

    The look in his eyes told me more than any dream letter could.The joy and honesty of love was deep.On the 80mile drive to our home，I talked incessantly while he quietly listened，without interrupting.When he finally had a chance to respond，he asked me to open the glove compartment of the car and take out an envelope with my name on it.“I wanted to give you something special to let you know how much I missed you，”he said quietly.

    他的眼神告诉我的远比任何梦中情书所能写的还要多，充满了深切的爱的喜悦和诚挚。在开车80英里回我们家的路上，我不停地说这说那，而他只是静静地听着，并不打断我的话。当他终于有机会讲话时，他叫我打开汽车仪表板上的储物箱，拿出上面写有我名字的一个信封。“我想给你一样特别的东西，让你知道我有多么想你，”他平静地说。

    我打开信封，发现里面有不少季节门票，是我们两人的，是去参加该地区所有艺术活动的门票。我们的收入还没到那个水平，我真是惊呆了。“我不相信，”我哭着说，“你并不喜欢这些东西！”

    I opened the envelope to find season tickets，for both of us，to all of the area’s fine art functions.Our income was not all that great and I was stunned.“I don‘t believe this，”I cried.“You don’t enjoy these things！”

    When I finally stopped protesting，he reached out，hugged me and quietly said，“No，but you do，and I will learn.”In that moment I realized marriage wasn‘t 50/50，but real love was made of 100/0sometimes.Love means putting the other one first.His example taught his young wife a great lesson--a lesson that has made a happy marriage for 51years.

    当我终于停止抗议时，他伸出臂膀，将我搂抱在怀，静静地说：“是的，但是你喜欢，而我可以学。”

    在那一刻，我领悟到婚姻不是50对50，真正的爱有时是100对0。爱意味着把对方放在首位。他用实例给他年轻的妻子上了深刻的一课，这一课促成了51年的幸福婚姻。（未完待续）