他们回家后，每到黎明和黄昏，母亲总会搀扶着父亲在乡间小路上散步。父亲从没有那样温柔过。他们看起来就仿佛是世间最和谐的一对。路旁有许多漂亮的鲜花、绿草和树木，阳光透过叶子的缝隙温柔地照射在上面，所有这一切勾勒出一幅世间最美的画面。
医生说，两个月后父亲就能病愈。不过，两个月后他还是不能独立行走，为此，我们都很担心。
“你感觉如何，爸爸？”有一天我问他。
“苏珊，不要担心我。”父亲慢慢地说，“不瞒你说，我很喜欢和你妈妈一起散步的感觉。我喜欢这样的生活。”从他的眼神中，我读出了他对母亲那份深深的爱恋。
曾经，我以为爱情是与鲜花、礼物和香吻密不可分的。可是，经历了这些后，我明白了：爱情就如同我们生活中被子里的丝线，隐藏于生活之中，令生活变得更加稳固和温暖。
忍耐的报答
Rice Dudding
佚名 / Anonymous
Sheila stomped into the staff room, her uniform plastered with someone's dinner. "I don't know how you do it!" she fumed to Helen, the nurse supervising the evening shift. "Mrs. Svoboda just threw her tray at me again, and she's so agitated I don't know how l' ll be able to clean her up before bed. Why don't you have so much trouble with her?"
Helen smiled sympathetically. "I've had my share of rough nights with her, too. But I' ve been here, longer and, of course, I knew her husband." "yeah, Troy. I've heard about him. It's about the only word I can understand when she gets going."
"Sheila, "Helen began hesitantly. "I know it's hard to work with people like Mrs. Svoboda. When Mrs. Svoboda was admitted she wasn't as bad as she is now, but she was still pretty spicy. She used to give me grief over the smallest things￡her tea wasn't hot enough, her bed wasn't made up right. On her bad days she'd accuse us all of stealing her things. I had no patience with her, until one day her husband happened to be there during bath time. I was gearing up for the usual fight with her when he asked if he could help. 'Sure, ' I said gratefully. Good thing the safety restraints were on because she began kicking and screaming."
"I began washing her quickly, anxious to get it over with, when Troy laid his hand on my arm. 'Give her a moment to get used to the water, 'he asked. Then he began talking softly in Russian. After a few moments she became calm and seemed to listen to him. Very gently, he took the cloth and soap from me and washed each of' her hands. Then slowly and carefully, he washed her arms and shoulders, working his way over the wrinkled, sallow skin. Each touch was a caress, each movement a promise.After a while, she closed her eyes and relaxed into the warm water. 'My beautiful Nadja, ' the old man murmured. 'You are so beautiful'. To my surprise, Mrs.Svoboda opened her eyes and murmured back, 'My beautiful Troy.' Even more astonishing, she had tears in her eyes!"
Helen took a deep breath and continued her story. "Mrs. Svoboda stayed calm that whole afternoon. Her husband helped me dress her and feed her lunch. She complained about the food and at one point knocked over her soup. Mr. Svoboda patiently cleaned it up and waited until her tantrum was over. Then he slowly fed her the rest of her meal and talked to her until she was ready to go to bed. I was concerned about that old man. He looked completely exhausted. I asked him why he insisted on doing so much by himself when we were paid to do it. He turned to me and said simply, 'Because I love her.' You don't understand, he continued. We' ve been married for almost forty-nine years. When we started out, life on the farm was harder than you can imagine. The drought killed our crops, and there wasn't enough pasture for the cattle. Our children were small, and I didn't know how we were going to survive the winter. I was very hard to live with that year. Nadja put up with my moods, and left me alone, but one night I blew up at the supper table. She'd made our favorite treat, rice pudding, and all I could think about was how much sugar and milk she'd used."
"Suddenly. I just couldn't take it. I picked up my bowl and threw it against the wall, and stormed out to the barn. I don't know how long I stayed there, but around sundown, Nadja came out to find me. 'Troy', she said, 'you are not alone in your troubles. I promised to stand by you through everything life brought our way. But if you won't let me, then you have to go. ' She had tears in her eyes, but her voice was firm. 'when you are ready to be with us again, we are here. ' Then she kissed my cheek and walked back to the house."
"I stayed in the barn that night, and the next day I headed into town to look for a job. There was nothing, of course, but I keep looking. After about a week, I was ready to give up. I felt a complete failure, at farming, as a man. I started for home, not knowing if I'd be welcome, but I didn't have anywhere else to go. When she saw me coming down the lane, Nadja came out running, her apron strings riving. She threw her arms around me and I began to weep. I clung to her like a newborn baby."
"If she could stay committed to me during my worst times, during the hardest time of our life, the least I can do is to comfort her now. And remind her of the good times we had. We always smiled at each other when we ate rice pudding, and it's one of the few things she still remembers."
Helen was quiet. Suddenly Sheila pushed back her chair, "My break is over, "she said, dabbing at the tears that rolled down her cheeks. "And I know an old lady who needs another dinner. "She smiled at Helen. "If I ask them nicely, I' ll bet the kitchen can rustle up a dish of rice pudding for her, too. "
希à的制服上被洒了厚厚的一层晚饭，她气冲冲地走进了护士室。她向当晚的领班护士海伦发火道：“天哪!我实在不明白您是怎么做到的！斯沃博达太太刚刚又把盘子扔到我身上了。她情绪这么激动，我真不知道在睡前该怎么为她洗澡。为什么你在服侍她时，就不会碰到这些麻烦呢？”
海伦满怀同情地微笑着说：“刚开始，我也曾有过很多糟糕的夜晚。不过因为我来这里的时间比较长，自然，我也就认识她丈夫。”“哦，我听说过，是特洛伊吧。她每次暴躁不安时，我就只能听明白这个词。”
海伦迟疑了一下，说：“希à，我明白，要让斯沃博达太太这样的人来配合你的工作，这的确很难。她刚来到这里时，情况还没有现在这么糟糕，但也让人觉很非常棘手。她总是在一些鸡毛蒜皮的小事上找我的茬——比如，她的茶不够热，她的床整理得不够整洁等等。心情糟糕时，她还会指责我们所有人，说我们偷她的东西。我对她的忍耐已经达到了极限，直到有一天为她洗澡时，她丈夫碰巧在场。我像平常一样蓄势待发，准备与她进行‘战斗’，此时，他问我是否需要帮忙。我十分感激地说：‘当然。’因为她已经开始又踢又叫，好在我已经做好了安全约束措施。”