My inspiring grandfather

原文

Ever since I was little I have had the security and love of a whole family. Im sure all of you have lost a loved one， ranging from a dear pet to a beloved family member. I myself have lost many cherished hamsters， but never in my childhood did I think I would lose a family member.

I have many family members; I even have two living greatgrandparents and I also had four grandparents. All that changed in the beginning of 2002. At that time our family was astonished to find out that my grandfather on my Dads side of the family was found to have cancer. He suffered through two years of it. We did everything we could to help him enjoy a comfortable stay at the hospital， like we taped videos of my soccer games and visited him in Chicago on Halloween.

He fought all he could， but on the day of November 5， 2003， he passed away. At that time my parents were visiting him in Chicago， and my other grandparents from Virginia were watching us. Our parents came home early that visit. I still remember that day when they sat all of us down and told us the news. I felt a mix of emotions such as depression， loss， and emptiness. I ran outside into the crisp November air and cried silent tears， kneeling at my hamsters grave under the bare cherry blossom tree.

Almost a year had passed and we were eating dinner at the dinner table when a discussion started about how we could help find a cure for cancer or make the lives of the many people who have it more enjoyable. My older sister Molly and I came up with the idea of selling our honey from our grandparents in Virginias hives. I came up with the name Hives for Lives and we started our business with the bees.

The business started by taking the honey from our bees and some beeswax. We left enough for the bees to survive through the winter. I only got stung once！ After this we would go through the long process of spinning the honey， filtering the honey with three filters， and then putting the honey in a large tin heater and warming it until it was drippy and easily bottled in one of our glass jars. Then we would cap the newly filled jars and label them. We did this all by ourselves！

This year we added beeswax candles and lip balm of many flavors to the product line. We were selling it at the events or stores. Last year， we raised $2，000 for the American Cancer Society and all of it went to a camp for children who have cancer. This year， with a few of our friends， Molly and I spent a lot of our time making beeswax candles and beeswax lip balm. With a lot of help， we raised $9，300！

I learned many things from our grandfather such as to live life to its fullest， proper grammar， the love of literature， and to take risks in life. We are put on this Earth to do well and to help those around us. We are all capable of that if we try.

譯文

從很小的時(shí)候開(kāi)始，我就享受著一大家子人給予我的愛(ài)與安全感。我敢肯定，你們所有人都曾失去過(guò)自己的所愛(ài)，從心愛(ài)的寵物到深愛(ài)的家人。我自己就失去過(guò)許多只珍愛(ài)的倉(cāng)鼠，但童年時(shí)，我從未想到自己會(huì)失去一位家人。

我家的成員很多;兩位曾祖父母還在世，還有四位祖父母。但在2002年初，所有這一切都改變了。那時(shí)，祖父被查出患了癌癥，全家人都震驚了。祖父痛苦地煎熬了兩年。我們竭盡所能地幫助他舒適地待在醫(yī)院里治療，比如，大家錄下了我參加足球賽的視頻，在萬(wàn)圣節(jié)的那天去芝加哥看望他。

祖父也竭力與病魔斗爭(zhēng)，但在2003年11月5號(hào)那天，他離開(kāi)了。當(dāng)天，我的父母在芝加哥探望他，其他來(lái)自弗吉尼亞州的祖父母?jìng)儎t照看我們這些孩子，父母很早就探病回來(lái)了。我依然記得那天他們讓我們這些孩子都坐下，說(shuō)出了這個(gè)壞消息。我百感交集，心中充滿沮喪、失落和空虛感。我跑了出去，在11月寒冷的空氣中默默地傷心流淚;在光禿禿的櫻花樹(shù)下，我跪在了我的倉(cāng)鼠的墓前。

將近一年的時(shí)間過(guò)去了，那天我們正在餐桌旁吃飯，大家開(kāi)始了一場(chǎng)討論，話題有關(guān)我們?nèi)绾螏椭┌Y患者找到治療方法，如何讓眾多患者的生活變得更加愉快。我和姐姐莫莉一起想出一個(gè)主意：售賣(mài)我們祖父母在弗吉尼亞州的蜂箱所產(chǎn)出的蜂蜜。我提出了“生命蜂箱”這個(gè)名字。于是大家便忙活起這個(gè)與蜜蜂相關(guān)的項(xiàng)目了。

項(xiàng)目起步了，我們從飼養(yǎng)的蜜蜂和一些蜂蠟中提取蜂蜜，也給蜜蜂留下足夠多的蜂蜜，以便它們能熬過(guò)冬天。我只被叮了一次！之后，我們就開(kāi)始漫長(zhǎng)的釀蜜過(guò)程，要用三個(gè)濾器來(lái)過(guò)濾蜂蜜，然后再把它們裝入一個(gè)巨大的錫爐里，進(jìn)行加熱，直到蜂蜜變成可滴落的液體，這樣就能輕而易舉地將其裝進(jìn)我們的玻璃罐里。接著，我們給新裝滿的罐子加上蓋子，并貼上標(biāo)簽。所有這一切都是我們自己獨(dú)立完成的！

今年，我們還在生產(chǎn)線上加入了蜂蠟蠟燭和口味多樣的唇膏。我們?cè)诨顒?dòng)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)和商店里出售這些產(chǎn)品。去年，我們?yōu)椤懊绹?guó)癌癥協(xié)會(huì)”募集了2，000美元，這些錢(qián)用于為患有癌癥的孩子們舉辦一次露營(yíng)活動(dòng)。今年，我、莫莉和幾個(gè)朋友一起花了很多時(shí)間來(lái)制作蜂蠟蠟燭和蜂蠟唇膏。我們得到了許多幫助，募集了9，300美元！

我從祖父那里學(xué)到很多東西，比如，把生命活到極致的態(tài)度、正確使用語(yǔ)法、對(duì)文學(xué)的喜愛(ài)和生活中的冒險(xiǎn)精神。我們來(lái)到這個(gè)世界上要多做好事，幫助那些我們身邊的人。如果我們努力去嘗試，就能夠成功。

（作者：殷華新，泰州市第三高級(jí)中學(xué)）