经典美文：爱永不太迟

　　摘要：如果你曾认为，寻找真爱对你来说已经太迟，或者你的人生已经结束了，那么你应该多看看像他们俩这样的浪漫故事。

　　My aunt died back in about 2003. She was eighty-four and so was my uncle. When she passed he wasdevastated. They had been married for over 60years. We expected him to pass on quickly after shedied. He attended his church more frequently and hismourning was nearly unbearable to witness. His onlydaughter lived clear across the country so he hadonly the rest of the extended family and churchfamily to comfort him.

　　我伯母大约在2003年去世。她已是84岁高龄，我伯父与她同龄。伯母的去世对伯父来说是个沉重的打击。他们结婚超过60年了。伯母去世后，我们以为伯父很快也会跟着离开。伯父愈加频繁地去教会，他的悲恸几乎令人不忍目睹。他唯一的女儿一直住在离他很远的另一个地方，因而他只能从家族的远亲以及教会同伴那里寻求慰藉。

　　My cousin talked him into selling the house that he and my aunt had built together abouttwenty-five years before. It was very hard to part with the home they built together. He wasgoing to move into an apartment, but at the last moment, my cousin and he saw a new housefor sale, that was close to his business. She helped him buy furniture and a flat screentelevision. He had not watched television for years because of his religion. He was like a kid witha new toy but still grieved horribly for my aunt.

　　我堂姐游说伯父卖掉那栋他和伯母大概在25年前一起建造的房子。要离开他俩一起建造的“家”，这对伯父而言非常艰难。他准备搬进一间公寓，不过就在最后一刻，我堂姐和他看中了一栋待售的新房，而且这房子离伯父的公司很近。堂姐帮伯父买来了家具和一台平板电视机。由于他的宗教信仰，伯父已经很多年没有看电视了。他如同一个拿到一件新玩具的孩子那样开心，不过对于伯母的离去，他还是非常伤心。

　　One day he called my cousin who was living in Texas and told her that he reconnected with alady from a church that he and my aunt went to forty years previously. She played piano andhis church was looking for new music. Her husband had died about seven years previously. Hesaid he just wanted someone to go out to dinner with and spend time with. We were happy forthem but had no idea how it would turn out. They were both almost eighty-seven years old.

　　有一天，伯父打电话给我那住在得克萨斯州的堂姐，告诉她说他和一位女士重新取得了联系，而那位女士来自他和伯母40多年前常去的一间教堂。那位女士会弹钢琴，而伯父所在的教会正要找新的音乐伴奏。那位女士的丈夫大约七年前去世了。伯父说，他只是想有个人一起出去吃饭，一起消磨时光。我们很为他们俩高兴，却不知道结果会如何。他们俩都将近87岁高龄。

　　They were like lovebirds and spent as much time together as they could. They both had onechild each, she a son, he a daughter. She had a house that her father built for her when shegot married to her first husband. She was content there.

　　他们俩如同一对恩爱夫妻一般，尽可能多地在一起共度时光。他们各自都有一个孩子，她有个儿子，而他有个女儿。她有栋房子，是她父亲在她和第一任丈夫结婚时为她建的。她在里面住得很满意。

　　The other fly in the ointment was that they were both very busy people. They both still worked!They were in their mid-eighties and both had their own family businesses. She worked for herson who took over the family business and he had his own business.

　　另一处美中不足的是，他们俩都是非常忙碌的人。他们俩都仍然在工作!他们都已80多岁，都还有各自的家族生意。她为已经接管了家族生意的儿子工作，而他有自己的公司。

　　The clash in their relationship came when they neither wanted to leave their respectivechurches. She went to her Baptist church that she had attended for many years and he went tohis, which was a Pentecostal. They decided to remain friends but nothing more. He was broken-hearted, but felt that his religion was the only way. She didn’t want to leave her church anddidn’t like the extreme of his.

　　他们都不愿意脱离各自的教会，这使得他们的关系出现了冲突。她去的是已经加入多年的浸礼会，而他去的是五旬节派教会。他们决定只做朋友，别无他求。对此，伯父伤心不已，不过他感到自己的信仰是唯一的抚慰方式。而她不想离开自己所在的教会，也不喜欢他的教会那么偏激。不久，两人意识到他们并不想分开。他们要一起加入一个新的教会，并打算结婚。当他带着她前往一家珠宝店给她买钻戒时，那些店员们都非常感动，写了一大篇文章发表在我们当地的报纸上，标题为“情人节‘真谛’”。他们为婚礼做着准备。由于他们俩都迫不及待地想要“在一起”，而不结婚就不是严格意义上的“在一起”，所以他们把婚期提前了。

　　Before too long they realized that they did not want to be apart. They would find a new churchtogether. They planned to marry. When he took her to a jewelry store and bought her adiamond, the employees were so impressed that they had a big write up in our own localpaper, "'The Truth' for Valentines' Day." They prepared for their wedding. They moved thewedding date up because neither wanted to wait any longer to "be together," and it was notproper to "be together" without being married.

　　他们在她的房子里举行了婚礼，并决定婚后一起住在那里。这是一件看来如此美好而令人欣喜的事情——两位你原以为已经度过了大半生的老人即将在一起开始新生活。我从未看到我伯父像现在这般快乐幸福。他仍然沉浸在爱河中，而且他们彼此深爱着对方。

　　They got married in her house, where they decided they would live. It was such a beautifulrefreshing thing to see, two people who you would have thought had pretty much lived theirlives, were beginning a new one together. I have never seen my uncle happier. He is still in loveand she loves him as much as he loves her.

　　如果你曾认为，寻找真爱对你来说已经太迟，或者你的人生已经结束了，那么你应该多看看像他们俩这样的浪漫故事。他们都还在工作，而且他们现在已经结婚将近两年了。再过两个月，他们俩都将迎来90岁高寿，他们热爱两人在一起的生活。同时，他们仍然维系着各自的家庭、一起去教堂、和他们的家人朋友们一起外出聚餐。寻找真爱永远不会太迟，无论是再一次还是第一次!

　　最浪漫的回忆

　　As Anna looked out the window of her old beach house on the edge of the emerald sea, she bedpan to remember all the beautiful memories she had there throughout her many years. One memory in particular seemed to come to mind It was about 70 years ago late in the month of.August. Anna was 16 years old and that was her first summer together with Peter. Although she felt that she had been with him forever, it had only been a short month since then had tirst met on that very beach. This particular day was so memorable that Anna found herself thinking about it all the time, since Peter ha、passed away.

　　坐落在翠绿的海边的海滨别墅里，安娜望着窗外，开始回忆起她多年来在那里留下的美丽的瞬间，关于其中的某个瞬间的记忆犹为深刻。故事发生在大概70年前的深秋，那年安娜16岁，也是她和皮特一起度过的第一个夏天。尽管她感觉已经和皮特在一起很久了，可实际上自从他们第一次在海滩相遇才过去短短一个月而已。那是特殊的一天，是值得回忆的一天，自从皮特去世后，安娜的思绪总是不自觉地回到那一天。

　　Early that morning at about 5:45, Anna awoke to the sound of a tapping on her window. When she opened the window, to her surprise Peter was standing there with a

　　picnic basket and a blanket. Peter told Anna that since it was his last day at the beach this summer that he wanted to spend the entire day with her. from the time of the sunrise to after the sunset on the horizon. After they watched the sunrise early that and ate their romantic picnic breakfast. they一sat on the swing at the nearby park.They talked for hours on end, telling each other how they would keep in touch until they could be together the following summer.

　　那天清晨约5:45,安娜就被轻轻敲打窗子的声音弄醒了打开窗，她惊讶地发现皮特站在窗外手里提着野餐篮和毯子他说今天是和安娜一起在海滩度过的这个夏天的最后一天，他想要一整天都和安娜在一起，从日出到日落他们一起观看老人那天清晨的的日出，一起享用了一顿浪漫的野餐早餐，一起在附近的公园荡秋千他们交谈了好几个小时，让彼此知道他们会一直保持联系，直到第二年夏天再次相见。

　　It was a beautiful day and the aun beamed down on them in the early afternoon as they swam in the waves of the crystal clear water at the beach. Anna could remember them splashing and playing in the water for what has seemed like a million years and not knowing where all the time had gone.

　　那天天气很好，他们在海边清澈的波浪里游泳，午后的阳光照耀在他们身上安娜仍然记得，他们在海里打着水仗，时间在嬉戏中不知不觉地流失。

　　It was already starting to get dark on the beach. So then, Anna and Peter dried off and found a pretty spot at the top of a hill they had often gone to talk throughout the summer. They set out their blankets and laid in each other's arm until all of sudder it began to pour. Most people would have thought that the rain would put a damper on their prfect day, but Anna still remembers the strike of excitement it sent through her, as the drops poured down.The way Peter had taken her by the hand and led her down the side of muddy hill to the beach sent chills up her spine.They began to dance right there on the sand, in th a pouring rain. As they danced. in each other strong embrace.Anna could still remember Peter's exact words. He said to her.‘f love you Anna and f want to be with you and only you for the rest of my life’At that very moment. Anna knew that she felt exactly the same and that they would be together for the rest of their lives.

　　海滩开始呈现夜色，安娜和皮特待衣服风干后，在整个夏天他们聊天常去的小山顶上找到了一处好位置，摊开毯子，彼此依偎，直到突然下起倾盆大雨.大多数人也许会觉得这场雨给他俩完美的一天带来些许遗憾，而安娜却仍然记得当雨点倾泻而至时自己体会到的兴奋皮特牵着她的手，带着她走下泥泞的山坡，一直走到海滩上的情形令她心动神摇倾盆大雨中，他们开始在沙滩上跳舞，他们跳着、紧紧地拥抱着对方，“我爱你，安娜，我希望能和你共度此生，也只想和你共度此生”，这些话，安娜仍然清楚地记得.在那一刻，她知道，她的想法和皮特一样，他们将共度余生.

　　As the rain bedpan to stop and the clouds cleared from the sky, Peter and Anna sat down to watch the most beautiful sunset that either of them had ever seen. Peter walked Anna home that night and regardless of how hard it was for the both of them to say good-bye; they both knew it had to happen eventually. Throughout that year, Anna still remembers sending and receiving dozens of letters and pictures to keep in touch.

　　雨过云开，安娜和皮特一起坐着欣赏未曾见识过的落霞美景晚上皮特送安娜回家，尽管他们都不愿意说再见，但他们明自，这个时刻始终会到来安娜清楚地记得，那一年，他们保持着频繁的信件和照片联系。

　　Thinking back through the 69 wonderful years that they had together, that one day is the one that stands out most in her mind Although she had many more memories that are unforgettable with Peter, she still thinks back to the way he looked that night. The way his wet dark hair fell over his sapphire blue eyes still put butterflies in Anna's stomach’!In addition, the way that his strong body made her feel so safe as they danced in the rain, like ht would never let her go.

　　回忆起他们一起走过的幸福的69年时光，有关那大的记忆最为深刻尽管还有很多有关皮特的无法忘怀的回忆，她仍然经常回忆起那天晚上皮特的样子，他湿湿的黑发垂在深蓝色的眼睛上面的样子仍让她的心如小鹿般乱撞此外，他们雨中舞动时，他那强壮的体魄给她一种强烈的安全感，让她感觉他永远都不会放开她.

　　Anna spent many days and nights for the past nine months since Peter had passed away reminiscing" about that one special day they had together, she never regretted any of the time they had spent together. She only cherished the way that sun looked as it raised and tell over the horizon. Anna continued to sit by her windowsill and dream of yesterday and she would continue to until the day she could be with her one true love, Peter again.

　　皮特去世后的9个月内，安娜日夜都沉浸在他们在海滩一起度过的那个特殊日子的美好回忆中。对于她和皮特一起度过的每一天，安娜井不觉得有任何遗憾，她只是在珍藏着那天日出日落的美景坐在窗边，安娜重温着昨大的记忆，日复一日，直到她和真爱皮特再次相聚的那天。