致最親愛的母親

有人說，若問世間最深沉、最綿長的愛，那一定是母愛。

想想，挺有道理。這是一種與生俱來的本能，也是一種無法預(yù)期、不能控制的呵護、疼愛和付出。母愛如山一樣高，如海一樣深，更如文字一樣，永遠講述不盡。

此刻，以母親節(jié)的名義，感念母恩，學(xué)會珍惜和施予，并以一種新的眼光和態(tài)度去對待生命和我們周圍的一切。

A Prayer for My Mother

Dear God，

Now that I am no longer young， I have friends whose mothers have passed away. I have heard these sons and daughters say they never fully appreciated their mothers until it was too late to tell them.

I am blessed with the dear mother who is still alive. I appreciate her more each day. My mother does not change， but I do. As I grow older and wiser， I realize what an extraordinary person she is. How sad that I am unable to speak these words in her presence， but they flow easily from my pen.

How does a daughter begin to thank her mother for life itself? For the love， patience and just plain hard work that go into raising a child? For running after a toddler， for understanding a moody teenager， for tolerating a college student who knows everything? For waiting for the day when a daughter realizes her mother really is?

How does a grown woman thank for a mother for continuing to be a mother? For being ready with advice（when asked ）or remaining silent when it is most appreciated? For not saying:” I told you so”， when she could have uttered these words dozens of times? For being essentially herself—loving， thoughtful， patient， and forgiving?

I don’t know how， dear God， except to bless her as richly as she deserves and to help me live up to the example she has set. I pray that I will look as good in the eyes of my children as my mother looks in mine.

A daughter

短文語言樸素，你肯定能輕松地讀下來。讀畢而思，母親的胸懷是博大的，母親的心靈是至純的，母親的愛是無私的，可對于母親的回報又有多少呢？

Mum’s Hands

Night after night， she came to tuck me in， even long after my childhood years. Following her longstanding custom， she’d lean down and push my long hair out of the way， then kiss my forehead.

Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important， only you know what is best for you. 不要把別人看重的東西設(shè)定為自己的目標(biāo)，只有你才知道什么最合適自己的。

Pain makes you stronger. Tears make you braver. Heartbreak makes you wiser. So， thanks the past for a better future. 傷痛讓你更堅強，淚水讓你更勇敢，心碎讓你更明智，所以，感謝過去帶給你一個更美好的未來。

I don’t remember when it first started annoying me—her hands pushing my hair that way. But it did annoy me， for they felt workworn and rough against my young skin. Finally， one night， I shouted out at her， “Don’t do that anymore—your hands are too rough!” She didn’t say anything in reply. But never again did my mother close out my day with that familiar expression of her love.

Time after time， with the passing years， my thoughts returned to that night. By then I missed my mother’s hands， missed her goodnight kiss on my forehead. Sometimes the incident seemed very close， sometimes far away. But always it lurked， in the back of my mind.

Well， the years have passed， and I’m not a little girl anymore. Mom is in her midseventies， and those hands I once thought to be so rough are still doing things for me and my family. She’s been our doctor， reaching into a medicine cabinet for the remedy to calm a young girl’s stomach or soothe the boy’s scraped knee. She cooks the best fried chicken in the world... gets stains out of blue jeans like I never could…

Now， my own children are grown and gone. Mom no longer has Dad， and on special occasions， I find myself drawn next door to spend the night with her. So it was late on Thanksgiving Eve， as I slept in the bedroom of my youth， a familiar hand hesitantly run across my face to brush the hair from my forehead. Then a kiss， ever so gently， touched my brow.

In my memory， for the thousandth time， I recalled the night my young voice complained， “Don’t do that anymore—your hands are too rough!” Catching Mom’s hand in hand， I blurted out how sorry I was for that night. I thought she’d remember， as I did. But Mom didn’t know what I was talking about. She had forgotten—and forgiven—long ago.

That night， I fell asleep with a new appreciation for my gentle mother and her caring hands. And the guilt that I had carried around for so long was nowhere to be found.

幼時，我們被母親悉心地呵護、疼愛著，一雙溫柔白皙的手，帶來無私的母愛?；腥婚g，也許雙手已經(jīng)不再光滑，甚至有點粗糙，但仍然給予我們無限溫暖。

在熱愛動物的人們心中，天堂的入口處，有一片草地，草地一端是通往天堂的“彩虹橋”。當(dāng)寵物死后，他們會來到這片草地，和同伴嬉鬧玩耍，恢復(fù)身體受到的傷害，唯獨缺少的是他們主人的陪伴。當(dāng)有一天，主人來到天堂門口，穿越草地的時候，寵物們會認出主人，然后，一起走過“彩虹橋”，進入天堂，再也不分開。

這就是彩虹橋的故事。

這篇文章的作者Yufei是密歇根州立大學(xué)的一名學(xué)生，她也是一家動物診所的志愿者。因為曾經(jīng)養(yǎng)過一只貓咪，所以她更能感受人對動物那種超越了僅僅把它們看成寵物的感情和對生命的尊重。