I Love You, Mom　我愛(ài)你，媽媽

I Love You, Mom　我愛(ài)你，媽媽

◎ Jemifer Clarke

“I love you, Mom. See you tomorrow.” I said these words every day as I kissed my mom goodbye. Most girls I know don’t tell their mothers they love them when they say goodbye. But I wasn’t like girls I knew.

“我愛(ài)您，媽媽。明天見(jiàn)。”每天在跟媽媽吻別的時(shí)候，我都會(huì)說(shuō)這些話。我認(rèn)識(shí)的大多數(shù)女孩在跟媽媽說(shuō)再見(jiàn)的時(shí)候，都不會(huì)告訴媽媽自己愛(ài)她。可是，我不像她們。

As a baby, I was adopted by two loving people who were willing to take me into their home. They became not only my parents, but also my best friends. As I was growing up, I learned that my birth mother was very young when she had me and wasn’t able to care for me. I understood and was thankful. After all, I ended up with two people who loved each other very much, and also loved me. Three years later, they adopted another baby, Lori.

還是個(gè)嬰兒的時(shí)候，我就被一對(duì)有愛(ài)心的人收養(yǎng)了，他們?cè)敢獍盐規(guī)У剿麄兊募依?。他們不僅成為我的父母，也成了我最好的朋友。當(dāng)我漸漸長(zhǎng)大，我知道我的生母在懷我的時(shí)候還很年輕，沒(méi)有能力撫養(yǎng)我。我能理解這些，并且對(duì)這一切充滿感激。畢竟，我最終遇上了一對(duì)互敬互愛(ài)的人，而且他們愛(ài)我。三年后，這對(duì)夫婦又收養(yǎng)了另外一個(gè)孩子——洛里。

Until I was nine, I didn’t understand why my parents didn’t have any children of their own. Then my father explained that they had tried many times, but they were unsuccessful. Part of the reason was that my mom had diabetes. Since I was young, I didn’t really understand what that meant. As I was growing up, I would see my mom give herself shots and wonder why she was the only one who had to do that. All I saw every day was a strong, beautiful, healthy woman, who spent her life helping people.

直到9歲，我才明白為什么我的父母沒(méi)要一個(gè)他們自己的孩子。那時(shí)，爸爸解釋說(shuō)，他們嘗試過(guò)很多次，但是都沒(méi)有成功。部分原因是媽媽患有糖尿病。那時(shí)我還年幼，不能真正理解那意味著什么。我漸漸長(zhǎng)大，看到媽媽為自己打針，我不明白為什么只有她一個(gè)人這樣做。我每天看到的都是一個(gè)堅(jiān)強(qiáng)、美麗、健康的女人，一生都在幫助別人的女人。

When I was thirteen, everything changed.

我13歲的時(shí)候，一切都改變了。

It started with a tiny blister on my mom’s toe. This may seem like no big deal, but she ended up losing her toe. Soon she suffered a stroke, and just as she began to recover from that, her leg had to be amputated.

首先是從媽媽腳趾上的一個(gè)小水皰開(kāi)始的。這看上去似乎沒(méi)什么大不了，但是她差一點(diǎn)就失去了一個(gè)腳趾。不久之后，媽媽又患了中風(fēng)，而就在她剛開(kāi)始恢復(fù)的時(shí)候，又不得不接受一條腿的截肢手術(shù)。

This all took place over three years. The toll this took on my family was unbelievable. My mom was in and out of five hospitals, each doing their best to help her. Sometimes she was home for a few months, but something always seemed to go wrong. When the holidays came, my father, my sister and I spent the day in her hospital room. One Thanksgiving we ate turkey there, and another Christmas we brought all our presents to the hospital so she could see us open them.

這一切僅僅在三年之內(nèi)全部發(fā)生。我們家為此付出的代價(jià)簡(jiǎn)直讓人難以置信。媽媽在五家醫(yī)院進(jìn)進(jìn)出出，每家醫(yī)院都竭盡所能幫助她。有時(shí)媽媽在家里住上幾個(gè)月，但是這期間總會(huì)有一些不妙的事情發(fā)生。假日里，爸爸、妹妹和我就在病房里陪她。有一年感恩節(jié)，我們還在醫(yī)院里一起吃火雞；還有一年圣誕節(jié)，我們把所有的禮物都帶到醫(yī)院，讓她看著我們把禮物打開(kāi)。

I tried my hardest to make her feel better, but nothing helped. At home, taking care of my little sister became my job, along with cleaning the house, doing the laundry and cooking the meals. I thought it was unfair, and took it out on my father. I hated the fact that all my friends went out on Friday nights, while I had to stay home and play “Mommy”.

我想盡辦法想要使她感覺(jué)快樂(lè)一點(diǎn)，但是一切都是徒勞。在家里，照看小妹妹成了我的工作，同時(shí)我還要打掃房間、洗衣服、做飯。我覺(jué)得這對(duì)我不公平，便發(fā)泄在爸爸身上。我所有的朋友都能在周五晚上出去玩，而我卻不得不待在家里，充當(dāng)“媽媽”的角色，我討厭這個(gè)事實(shí)。

It was even harder for me to go to school while my mom was lying in the hospital. By now, I was sixteen. Luckily she was there for my birthday party, and I’ll never forget hugging her as tears fell down both our faces. I’m still thankful for that moment with my mother because it was the happiest I had seen her in four years.

更困難的是，媽媽躺在醫(yī)院的病床上，我還要去上學(xué)。我現(xiàn)在只有16歲。幸運(yùn)的是，媽媽出席了我的生日聚會(huì)，我永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)忘記，當(dāng)我擁抱她的時(shí)候，我們母女淚流滿面的情景。我至今都對(duì)與媽媽在一起的那一刻充滿感激，因?yàn)槟鞘撬哪陙?lái)，我所見(jiàn)到的媽媽最快樂(lè)的時(shí)刻。

But once again, the happy days became sad. On June 15, I stayed home from school to take care of her. Once again she was admitted to the hospital. At first, no one could figure out what was wrong. She remained in intensive care for a week. She began to do better. Then on July 10 she became very sick, and on the eleventh she almost died.

但是，快樂(lè)的日子再一次變成了悲傷。6月15日，我沒(méi)去上學(xué)，而是留在家里照顧她。她再一次被送進(jìn)醫(yī)院。剛一開(kāi)始，沒(méi)人能發(fā)現(xiàn)她出現(xiàn)了什么問(wèn)題。媽媽在加護(hù)病房里一連待了一星期。后來(lái)她開(kāi)始好起來(lái)，但是7月10日，她的病情又加重了，到11日時(shí)，她已徘徊在生死線上。

It was getting harder and harder to deal with. Every time she got really sick, she would always come back and do even better.

病情變得越來(lái)越難處理。每一次當(dāng)她瀕臨死亡時(shí)，她都能起死回生，甚至顯得更好些。

When the doctors finally realized why she was so sick, they put her on dialysis, a treatment for her kidneys. It seemed to work on August 17, we visited her and she was doing extremely well. When I left, I kissed her and said, “I love you, Mom. See you tomorrow.”

當(dāng)醫(yī)生們終于認(rèn)識(shí)到她病情惡化的原因后，他們?yōu)樗隽四I透析?？雌饋?lái)透析很有效果，8月17日，我們?nèi)メt(yī)院看望她時(shí)，她的狀況非常好。我離開(kāi)的時(shí)候，吻了她，對(duì)她說(shuō)：“我愛(ài)您，媽媽。明天見(jiàn)。”

At 6:30 the next morning we received a call telling us she had passed away during the night.

第二天早上六點(diǎn)三十分，我們接到醫(yī)院的電話，被告知媽媽于昨晚去世了。

Today, a little over a year since my mom left, I am closer to my father and sister. And along with accepting my family responsibilities, I have gained respect for my mom. I still don’t understand how she managed to accomplish all she did.

今天，媽媽離開(kāi)我們已經(jīng)一年多了，我與爸爸和妹妹的關(guān)系變得更加親密。在接過(guò)了家庭責(zé)任的同時(shí)，我還因?yàn)閶寢尩玫搅藙e人的尊敬。我仍然不能明白，媽媽是怎樣完成她所有的事業(yè)的。

As for being adopted, I have no desire to find my real parents. The ones I have had are the only ones I’ll ever need. They taught me to be strong and follow my heart. Watching my mom smile through all her pain taught me that I can accomplish anything. I know she’s with me through this important time in my life, and she’ll guide me in the night direction.

身為養(yǎng)女，我并不想找到自己的生身父母。我曾有過(guò)的父母才是我唯一需要的父母。他們教育我要堅(jiān)強(qiáng)，要跟隨自己的心?？粗鴭寢屝?duì)痛苦，我懂得了，我可以完成任何事。我知道，媽媽正陪我走過(guò)生命中這段重要的時(shí)光，她會(huì)引領(lǐng)我朝正確的方向前進(jìn)。

“Thank you, Mom! I love you and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“謝謝您，媽媽！我愛(ài)您，明天見(jiàn)。”

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