The Men in Your Life I Loved You First 在你生命里，我是第一個(gè)愛你的男人

August 17, 2011

Lauren,

As the big weekend approaches I am more and more worried that I might break up during my toast so as a pre-emptive strike please accept this letter and gifts. My feelings about you and your marriage are personal and while I hope to share the sentiments with those at the dinner, it’s more important to me that you realize how much I love you and how proud I am of the amazing woman you have become.

My memory for specifics is terrible but my memory for how precious you were as a child is vivid. I loved cradling you in my arms in the wee hours of the morning when you awoke for a bottle, draping your sleepy body over my shoulder when you were too pooped to walk, giving you under doggies in the park, tossing you high in the air in the pool in Marine, and reading kids books on the floor of the Denver book store with you on my lap. From your first days you have had a quiet, beautiful, and kind demeanor. You are thoughtful, sensitive, caring and loving. You were, and still are, an angel.

When I think of you as an adult, I think of your big heart. It’s your heart that has led you to be a bright point of light causing millions of meals to be served to hungry kids. It is your heart that has led you to your vegetarian lifestyle. It is your heart that helps you care for family and friends in need. For these reasons I have selected three hearts that are this dad’s gift to his soon to wed daughter. One heart is a locket with a picture of you and me together. It’s a reminder that of the men in your life I loved you first and will always love you forever and ever---the kind of unconditional love that your granny and grandpa have all their kids and grandkids all their lives.

The second heart is made of jade and has the Chinese character “Fu”. Jade represents luck and “Fu” means happiness. Maria and I want your life to be filled with both. David is a very good man, a lucky man, and when I see you two together, arms draped over neck and around waist, we see happiness. You guys have fun together, a child like fun that we hope lasts a lifetime.

The third heart is just pretty and represents your beauty, not the vane kind but the inside and out kind. You are wonderful, loving gift from god, a beautiful human being.

So we are thrilled that you are entering this exciting phase of your life, we’re thrilled that you have landed in a family that places family as the highest priority in life, one that has swallowed up in the Lauren clan, remember that your mom and I loved you first and, along with Maria we will love and support you always.

Finally, the wedding will be amazing. I can’t wait to see you walk down the aisle in your beautiful gown. And I can’t wait to dance with you in celebration. My hope is that the event and the whole weekend will bring lasting memories, like an epic move.

A father's greatest dream is that his child's life is filled with joy---that is my hope for you, our hope for you and David.

This from your devoted and proud...Dad

P.S. I can’t wait to love your kids the way I love you.

　　天下的父母在子女成人結(jié)婚這一刻都是一樣的感動(dòng)和興奮，也都是一樣的愛著自己的孩子。轉(zhuǎn)摘自美國前總統(tǒng)小布什的弟弟尼爾·布什寫給女兒婚前的一封信。

勞倫，

　　隨著這個(gè)重要周末的臨近，我越來越擔(dān)心自己可能在祝酒時(shí)失控，為了先發(fā)制人，請(qǐng)你提前接受這封信和這些禮物。對(duì)于你的婚姻，我覺得是很私人的事情，但我希望可以在晚宴上與大家分享我的感受。對(duì)我來說更重要的是，你能夠意識(shí)到我是多么愛你，并為你成為一個(gè)這樣了不起的女人而感到多么自豪。

　　我對(duì)細(xì)節(jié)的記憶很糟糕，但我對(duì)于你作為一個(gè)孩子是多么珍貴的記憶仍然歷歷在目。當(dāng)你清晨因?yàn)轲囸I而醒來時(shí)，我喜歡抱你入懷輕輕搖晃;當(dāng)你筋疲力盡不能走路時(shí)，我喜歡把你困乏的身體放在我的肩膀上;我喜歡在公園里為你蕩秋千，在緬因的游泳池里把你拋向空中，在丹佛的書店里讓你坐在我的膝蓋上為你讀小人書。你安靜、美麗、善良的氣質(zhì)與生俱來。你體貼、細(xì)膩、關(guān)懷、友愛。你曾經(jīng)是一個(gè)天使，并且依然如此。

　　當(dāng)我把你作為一個(gè)成年人來對(duì)待時(shí)，我想到了你博大的胸懷。正是你的心，引導(dǎo)你成為一抹亮點(diǎn)，讓饑餓的孩子們得以享用數(shù)百萬頓的膳食。正是你的心，讓你養(yǎng)成素食的生活方式。正是你的心，讓你懂得照顧家庭和那些有需要的朋友?；谶@些原因，我選擇了三顆心作為一個(gè)父親給他即將結(jié)婚的女兒的禮物。

　　第一顆心，是一個(gè)放置咱倆照片的小掛盒。只是想提醒你，在你的生命里，我是第一個(gè)愛你的男人，并將一直愛你，那是永遠(yuǎn)的無條件的愛，就像你祖父母在他們的一生中給他們所有兒孫們的愛。

　　第二顆心是刻有中國漢字“福”字的玉墜。玉代表著幸運(yùn)而“福”意味著幸福?，斃麃喓臀蚁Ｍ愕纳畛錆M幸運(yùn)和幸福。大衛(wèi)是一個(gè)非常好的人，一個(gè)幸運(yùn)的人，看到你們倆在一起，手臂環(huán)繞，相擁而行，我們看到了幸福。你們?cè)谝黄鸷芸鞓?，我們希望這種孩子般的快樂可以陪伴你們一生。

　　第三顆心非常漂亮，它代表著你的美麗，不是浮于表面，而是秀外慧中的美。你是上帝賜予的一個(gè)美妙的、動(dòng)人的禮物，一個(gè)美麗的人。

　　所以，我們很高興，你正步入生活中激動(dòng)人心的階段，我們很高興你加入到一個(gè)以家庭為重并接納你成為其中一員的大家庭。當(dāng)你加入勞倫家族之后，不要忘記你的媽媽和我是最早愛你的人，我們將和瑪利亞一起，一直深愛并永遠(yuǎn)支持著你。

　　最后我想說，婚禮將是令人驚嘆的。我迫不及待想看到你穿著美麗的婚紗走向婚姻的殿堂。我迫不及待與你共舞慶祝。我希望婚禮和整個(gè)周末將帶來永久的記憶，如同一部史詩電影。

　　一個(gè)父親的最大夢(mèng)想就是他孩子的生活充滿快樂——這就是我對(duì)你的希望，對(duì)你和大衛(wèi)的希望。

　　來自深愛你并為你自豪的……爸爸

　　又及，我都等不及要像當(dāng)初疼愛你一般疼愛你們的孩子們了。