- 相關(guān)推薦
最新美文欣賞：永遠(yuǎn)的情人節(jié)
編者按：
他最后一次送給我的這張賀卡如今仍保存在我的記事牌上。它提醒我父親是多么地不同尋常，以及這些年來對(duì)我是多么地重要，我知道我有這樣一位父親，他以慷慨的胸懷、樸素的理解和一生中向他的親人表達(dá)祝福的能力，來保持著愛的傳統(tǒng)。
My Forever Valentine
The traditional holidays in our house when I was a child were spent timing elaborate meals around football games. My father tried to make pleasant chitchat and eat as much as he could during halftime. At Christmas he found time to have a cup or two of holiday cheer and do his holly-shaped bow tie. But he didn't truly shine until Valentine's Day.
I don't know whether it was because work at the office slowed during February or because the football season was over. But Valentine's Day was the time my father chose to show his love for the special people in his life. Over the years I fondly thought of him as my " Valentine Man."
My first recollection of the magic he could bring to Valentine's Day came when I was six. For several days I had been cutting out valentines for my classmates. Each of us was to decorate a " mailbox " and put it on our desk for others to give us cards. That box and its contents ushered in a succession of bittersweet memories of my entrance into a world of popularity contests marked by the number of cards received, the teasing about boyfriends/girlfriends and the tender care I gave to the card from the cutest boy in class.
That morning at the breakfast table I found a card and a gift-wrapped package at my chair. The card was signed " Love, Dad" , and the gift was a ring with a small piece of red glass to represent my birthstone, a ruby. There is little difference between red glass and rubies to a child of six, and I remember wearing that ring with a pride that all the cards in the world could not surpass.
As I grew older, the gifts gave way to heart-shaped boxes filled with my favorite chocolates and always included a special card signed " Love, Dad" .In those years my " thank-yous" became more of a perfunctory response.The cards seemed less important, and I took for granted the valentine that would always be there. Long past the days of having a " mailbox" on my desk, I had placed my hopes and dreams in receiving cards and gifts from " significant others" , and " Love, Dad" just didn't seem quite enough.
If my father knew then that he had been replaced, he never let it show. If he sensed any disappointment over valentines that didn't arrive for me, he just tried that much harder to create a positive atmosphere, giving me an extra hug and doing what he could to make my day a little brighter.
My mailbox eventually had a rural address, and the job of hand-delivering candy and cards was relegated to the U.S.Postal Service. Never in ten years was my father's package late--nor was it on the Valentine's Day eight years ago when I reached into the mailbox to find a card addressed to me in my mother's handwriting.
It was the kind of card that comes in an inexpensive assortment box sold by a child going door-to-door to try to earn money for a school project. It was the kind of card that you used to get from a grandmother or an aging aunt or, in this case, a dying father. It was the kind of card that put a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes because you knew the person no longer was able to go out and buy a real valentine. It was a card that signaled this would be the last you receive from him.
The card had a photograph of tulips on the outside, and on the inside my mother had printed " Happy Valentine's Day" . Beneath it, scrawled in barely legible handwriting, was " Love, Dad" .
His final card remains on my bulletin board today. It's a reminder of how special fathers can be and how important it had been to me over the years to know that I had a father who continued a tradition of love with a generosity of spirit, simple acts of understanding and an ability to express happiness over the people in his life.
Those things never die, nor does the memory of a man who never stopped being my valentine.
永遠(yuǎn)的情人節(jié)
當(dāng)我還是小孩子的時(shí)候，我們家過傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日時(shí)總是把精心準(zhǔn)備的節(jié)日餐安排在足球賽時(shí)間。我父親在中場(chǎng)休息時(shí)盡量聊些愉快的事兒并盡可能多吃東西。在圣誕節(jié)他會(huì)找時(shí)間為慶祝節(jié)日干上一兩杯，然后戴上他那冬青葉形狀的領(lǐng)結(jié)。但父親真正光彩熠熠的時(shí)候是情人節(jié)。
我不知道這是否是因?yàn)樗嗌系墓ぷ髟诙路莶荒敲淳o了，還是由于足球賽季結(jié)束了。但情人節(jié)這天，是父親用來向在他生活中占有特殊位置的人表達(dá)愛心的日子。多少年來，我天真地把他看作是我"最思念的人"。
在我6歲那年的情人節(jié)，他給我?guī)砹说谝淮蚊烂畹幕貞�。一連好幾天我都忙于為我的同學(xué)制作情人節(jié)禮物。我們每個(gè)人都要裝飾一個(gè)"信箱"，然后把它放在書桌上，這樣別人就可以投放賀卡。這個(gè)信箱和里面的東西帶來了一連串苦樂參半的回憶：我進(jìn)入了一個(gè)"人緣競(jìng)賽"的世界，所收卡片的多少則顯示了比賽結(jié)果，對(duì)于男朋友和女朋友的揶揄，以及我對(duì)班里最聰明男孩給我的賀卡的精心愛護(hù)。
那天早上吃早飯時(shí)，我在餐桌上發(fā)現(xiàn)了一張賀卡，并且在我的椅子上發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)禮品包裝紙的包裹。卡片上寫有"愛你的，爸爸"，禮物是一個(gè)戒指，上面鑲著一片紅色的玻璃來象征我的誕生石--紅寶石。對(duì)一個(gè)6歲的孩子來說，紅玻璃和紅寶石并沒有什么區(qū)別；我還記得我驕傲地戴著它，感到我的信箱終于有了一個(gè)鄉(xiāng)下的地址；原來親手贈(zèng)送糖果和賀卡的工作都?xì)w了美國(guó)郵政局管。在這10年里爸爸給我寄的包裹從來不會(huì)晚--8年前的情人節(jié)父親給我的賀卡依然準(zhǔn)時(shí)到達(dá)，只是那張賀卡上是我母親的筆跡。
這張賀卡是一盒整套買的那種，價(jià)格便宜，是由為了給學(xué)校的某個(gè)項(xiàng)目籌款的小男孩挨家挨戶推銷的那種。這是一種你過去經(jīng)常從祖母或年邁的姑媽那里收到的那種賀卡，而這次卻從不久于人世的父親那兒收到了。這種賀卡使你嗓子哽咽，雙眼噙淚，因?yàn)槟阒澜o你寄賀卡的人已無法外出去買一個(gè)真正的情人節(jié)禮物了。這張賀卡預(yù)示著這將是你最后一次從他那兒收到情人節(jié)禮物。
這張賀卡的封面是一張郁金香花的照片，里面我母親工整地寫著"情人節(jié)快樂"，在下面是父親歪歪扭扭難以辨認(rèn)的字跡"愛你的，爸爸"。
他最后一次送給我的這張賀卡如今仍保存在我的記事牌上。它提醒我父親是多么地不同尋常，以及這些年來對(duì)我是多么地重要，我知道我有這樣一位父親，他以慷慨的胸懷、樸素的理解和一生中向他的親人表達(dá)祝福的能力，來保持著愛的傳統(tǒng)。
這些事情永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)消失，我將永遠(yuǎn)記著他，他是我永遠(yuǎn)最思念的人。
[2017最新美文欣賞：永遠(yuǎn)的情人節(jié)]
【最新美文欣賞：永遠(yuǎn)的情人節(jié)】相關(guān)文章：
經(jīng)典美文欣賞07-02
雙語美文《永遠(yuǎn)的朋友》10-24
雙語美文：永遠(yuǎn)向前06-19
英文經(jīng)典美文欣賞10-29
勵(lì)志美文欣賞08-12
美文欣賞：沒有情人的情人節(jié)06-17
經(jīng)典英語美文欣賞精選08-08
愛情美文欣賞08-22
經(jīng)典英語美文欣賞08-19
中秋美文欣賞11-10