Love, Mom
愛(ài)你的媽媽
I still have the bear and the little ring. And Nick did get his teepee. I smile at the memories and place my letter for Nick in an envelope to mail to him. I hope reading it will remind him what a miracle he is and how blessed I feel to be his mother.
我到現(xiàn)在還保留著那個(gè)小熊和那枚小小的戒指。尼克后來(lái)也得到了他的帳篷。想到這一段往事，我欣然微笑，然后把這封我寫(xiě)給尼克的信裝進(jìn)了一個(gè)信封里，準(zhǔn)備寄給尼克。我希望他讀這封信時(shí)能夠知曉：他是怎樣的一個(gè)奇跡；而作為他的媽媽，我又何其有幸！
Also tucked inside the “Nick” box was a little Zip-lock bag with a tiny baby tooth.“Nick's first tooth” was written in marker on the bag, and a folded piece of lined grade-school13) handwriting paper was stapled14) to the bag. I carefully removed the paper and read the note in his awkward, just-learning-how-to-write printing.
在這個(gè)“尼克”盒子里，還塞有一個(gè)小自封袋，里面是一顆小小的乳牙。袋子的標(biāo)簽上寫(xiě)著“尼克的第一顆牙”。和袋子訂在一起的還有一張折起來(lái)的紙，這是一張小學(xué)生練寫(xiě)字用的橫格紙。我很小心地把紙拆了下來(lái)，這是尼克寫(xiě)的一張小條，字體有些笨拙，一看就是剛開(kāi)始學(xué)寫(xiě)字的孩子寫(xiě)的。紙條上寫(xiě)著：
Dear Tooth Fairy15),
親愛(ài)的牙齒仙女：
I love you. Please leave me a lot of money.
我愛(ài)你。請(qǐng)給我好多好多錢(qián)吧。
From your best friend, Nick.
你最好的朋友，尼克
P.S. Don't keep my tooth.
另：請(qǐng)把我的牙齒還給我吧。
I laughed until I cried. How I missed my little guy!
我哈哈大笑起來(lái)，直笑得后來(lái)淚流滿面。我多么懷念我的小家伙啊！
Now twenty-one, Nick has his own life and a fiancée. I know it won't be long before he has children of his own. I pictured him with a little one on his knee, helping her write her first letter to the Tooth Fairy.
尼克現(xiàn)在21歲了，有了自己的生活，還有了未婚妻。我知道，很快他也會(huì)有自己的孩子。我想象著有一個(gè)小寶貝坐在他的膝上，他抱著她，幫她給牙齒仙女寫(xiě)第一封信。
Each page in his school years book had a small school photo for that grade glued to it. If I flipped the pages fast, like a homemade cartoon flip-book, I could see the transformation from pre-school to a senior in high school. It was like watching him morph16) into an adult right before my eyes.
在他學(xué)校紀(jì)念冊(cè)的每一頁(yè)上，都貼有一張小照片，對(duì)應(yīng)他上的年級(jí)。要是我像翻自制的手翻動(dòng)畫(huà)書(shū)那樣快速地翻這本冊(cè)子，我就能看到尼克從學(xué)前班到高中畢業(yè)的每一步變化。這感覺(jué)就像是我眼瞅著他在我面前長(zhǎng)大成人。
This unexpected trip down memory lane was the best way I could think of to spend my Saturday. This is one box I will never unpack and put away. It's definitely one to keep close by and on days when my heart longs for my first-born, I will dig it out, open a box of tissues, and let the memories come home again.
這次不經(jīng)意間的重溫往事是我能想到的度過(guò)這個(gè)周六的最好辦法。這是一個(gè)我永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)打開(kāi)之后就束之高閣的盒子。這無(wú)疑是一個(gè)要隨時(shí)隨地放在身邊的盒子，當(dāng)我想念我第一個(gè)孩子的時(shí)候，我會(huì)把它拿出來(lái)，再打開(kāi)一盒紙巾，讓記憶再次慢慢地涌上心頭。