美丽英文（故事卷）

    信守诺言（2）

    Only families were allowed to board the train. Just before departure, a woman traveling alone approached us. “I’ll take care of him,” she told Elyte, and pulled me onto the train as it left the station. The entire trip I cried for my Motina, my mother.

    We arrived in Hamburg. Corpses littered the bombed-out streets. Now that the woman had escaped Taurage she had no more use for me. I lived on the streets, like thousands of other children in that war-torn city. I survived by stealing food. Still, there was never enough. I was skin and bones, close to starving.

    Then the American occupation troops arrived. They looked so big and healthy. Filching food from them was a cinch2. I’d slip into the mess hall, hide under a table and make off with loaves of fresh bread.

    One afternoon as I lurked around a mess tent in search of food, a huge hand lifted me up by the collar. An American soldier. “Got ya！” He shouted.

    I was scared, and I could see it upset him. “It’s okay, kid,” he said. He reached into his fatigue jacket and handed me a chocolate bar. “Here, have some of this.” I unwrapped it and took a small bite. I thought I’d gone to heaven.

    The soldier took me and some other homeless children to an orphanage3 run by the Red Cross. Four years later I was transferred to an orphanage in America. Soon after, a family who lived in Donaldson, Pennsylvania, adopted me. Again, as with that first taste of chocolate, it was as if I’d gone to heaven. Later, I joined the Army, then attended college under the GI Bill. Eventually I earned a master’s degree in clinical social work. God, I want to pay back all the people who were so good to me, I prayed.

    So in 1983 I went to work for the Department of Veteran Affairs as a clinical counselor, treating veterans who suffer from post-traumatic4 stress syndrome5.

    The troubled soldiers sit in my office and wonder how I can possibly understand them or help ease their pain. “What do you know about living with terror？” Asked one Marine, who still was tormented by the image of a platoon member being killed in a battle.

    That is when I tell them my story, and about the GI god sent to save my life.

    “I never did learn his name, but I remember his kindness,” I say. And then I open a drawer in my desk that is always full and offer them some chocolate.

    我爱您，妈妈（1）

    詹尼弗?克拉克

    “我爱您，妈妈。明天见。”每天在跟妈妈吻别的时候，我都会说这些话。我认识的大多数女孩在跟妈妈说再见的时候，都不会告诉妈妈自己爱她。可是，我不像她们。

    还是个婴儿的时候，我就被一对有爱心的人收养了，他们愿意把我带到他们的家里。他们不仅成为了我的父母，也成为了我最好的朋友。当我渐渐长大，我知道了我的生母怀我的时候还很年轻，没有能力抚养我。我能理解这些，并且对这一切充满了感激。毕竟，我最终遇上了一对互敬互爱的人，而且他们爱我。3年后，这对夫妇又收养了另外一个孩子——洛里。

    直到9岁，我才知道为什么我的父母没要一个他们自己的孩子。那时，爸爸解释说他们尝试过很多次，但是都没有成功。妈妈患有糖尿病是其中的一部分原因。那时我还很年轻，不能真正理解那意味着什么。我渐渐长大，看到妈妈为自己打针，我不明白为什么只有她一个人这样做。每天我看到的都是一个坚强、美丽、健康，一生都在帮助别人的女人。

    我13岁的时候，一切都改变了。

    首先是从妈妈脚趾上的一个小水疱开始的。或许，这看上去没什么大不了的，但是最终的结果却是妈妈失去了一个脚趾。不久之后，妈妈又得了中风，而就在她中风刚好时，她又不得不接受一条腿被切除的手术。

    这一切仅仅在3年之内全部发生了。我们家为此付出的代价简直难以置信。妈妈在5家医院进进出出，每家医院都竭尽全力帮助她恢复健康。有时妈妈会在家里住上几个月，但是这期间总会有一些不妙的事情发生。假日里，爸爸、妹妹和我就在医院的病房里陪她。有一年的感恩节，我们还在医院里一起吃火鸡；还有一年的圣诞节，我们把所有的礼物都带到医院，让她看着我们把礼物打开。

    我绞尽脑汁想要使她感觉舒服一点，但是一切努力都是徒劳。在家里，照看小妹妹成了我的工作，同时我还要打扫房间、洗衣服、做饭。我觉得这对我不公平，便迁怒于爸爸。我所有的朋友都能在周五晚上出去玩，而我却不得不待在家里，充当“妈妈”的角色，我讨厌这个事实。

    妈妈躺在医院的病床上，我还要去上学，这对我来说就更困难了。我现在才只有16岁。幸运的是，妈妈出席了我的生日聚会，而且我永远也不会忘记，当我拥抱她的时候，我们母女泪流满面的情景。我至今都对与妈妈在一起的那一刻充满着感激，因为那是4年来，我所见到的妈妈最开心的时刻。

    但是快乐的日子再一次变成了悲伤。6月15日，我没去上学，而是留在家里照顾她。她再一次住进了医院。刚一开始，没有人能想到她出现了什么问题。妈妈在重症特护病房里一连待了一星期。后来她开始好起来，但是7月10日，她的病情又变得很严重，到11日时，她已徘徊在生死线上。

    病情越来越难处理。每一次当她濒临死亡时，她都能起死回生，甚至显得更好些。

    当医生们最终找到了她病情恶化的原因后，他们为她做了肾透析。似乎透析很有效果，8月17日，我们去医院看望她时，她的状况非常好。我离开的时候，吻了她，并对她说：“我爱您，妈妈。明天见。”

    第二天早上6点30分，我们接到医院的电话，被告知妈妈于昨晚去世了。

    今天，妈妈离开我们已经一年多了，我与爸爸和妹妹的关系变得更加亲密。在接过了家庭责任的同时，我还因为妈妈得到了别人的尊敬。我仍然不能明白，妈妈是怎样完成她所有的事业的。

    身为养女，我并不想找到自己的生身父母。我曾有过的父母才是我唯一需要的父母。他们教育我要坚强，要按照自己的心意做事。看着妈妈笑对痛苦，我懂得了，我可以成就任何事。我知道，妈妈正陪我一起走过生命中这段重要时光，她会引领我朝正确的方向前进。