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“I love you, Mom. See you tomorrow.”
“我愛您，媽媽。明天見?！?/p>
I said these words every day as I kissed my mom goodbye.
每天在跟媽媽吻別的時候，我都會說這些話。
Most girls I know don’t tell their mothers they love them when they say goodbye.
我認識的大多數女孩在跟媽媽說再見的時候，都不會告訴媽媽自己愛她。
But I wasn’t like girls I knew.
可是，我不像她們。
As a baby, I was adopted by two loving people who were willing to take me into their home.
還是個嬰兒的時候，我就被一對有愛心的人收養了，他們愿意把我帶到他們的家里。
They became not only my parents, but also my best friends.
他們不僅成為我的父母，也成了我最好的朋友。
As I was growing up, I learned that my birth mother was very young when she had me and wasn’t able to care for me.
當我漸漸長大，我知道我的生母在懷我的時候還很年輕，沒有能力撫養我。
I understood and was thankful.
我能理解這些，并且對這一切充滿感激。
After all, I ended up with two people who loved each other very much, and also loved me.
畢竟，我最終遇上了一對互敬互愛的人，而且他們愛我。
Three years later, they adopted another baby, Lori.
三年后，這對夫婦又收養了另外一個孩子——洛里。
Until I was nine, I didn’t understand why my parents didn’t have any children of their own.
直到9歲，我才明白為什么我的父母沒要一個他們自己的孩子。
Then my father explained that they had tried many times, but they were unsuccessful.
那時，爸爸解釋說，他們嘗試過很多次，但是都沒有成功。
Part of the reason was that my mom had diabetes.
部分原因是媽媽患有糖尿病。
Since I was young, I didn’t really understand what that meant.
那時我還年幼，不能真正理解那意味著什么。
As I was growing up, I would see my mom give herself shots and wonder why she was the only one who had to do that.
我漸漸長大，看到媽媽為自己打針，我不明白為什么只有她一個人這樣做。
All I saw every day was a strong, beautiful, healthy woman, who spent her life helping people.
我每天看到的都是一個堅強、美麗、健康的女人，一生都在幫助別人的女人。
When I was thirteen, everything changed.
我13歲的時候，一切都改變了。
It started with a tiny blister on my mom’s toe.
首先是從媽媽腳趾上的一個小水皰開始的。
This may seem like no big deal, but she ended up losing her toe.
這看上去似乎沒什么大不了，但是她差一點就失去了一個腳趾。
Soon she suffered a stroke, and just as she began to recover from that, her leg had to be amputated.
不久之后，媽媽又患了中風，而就在她剛開始恢復的時候，又不得不接受一條腿的截肢手術。
This all took place over three years.
這一切僅僅在三年之內全部發生。
The toll this took on my family was unbelievable.
我們家為此付出的代價簡直讓人難以置信。
My mom was in and out of five hospitals, each doing their best to help her.
媽媽在五家醫院進進出出，每家醫院都竭盡所能幫助她。
Sometimes she was home for a few months, but something always seemed to go wrong.
有時媽媽在家里住上幾個月，但是這期間總會有一些不妙的事情發生。
When the holidays came, my father, my sister and I spent the day in her hospital room.
假日里，爸爸、妹妹和我就在病房里陪她。
One Thanksgiving we ate turkey there, and another Christmas we brought all our presents to the hospital so she could see us open them.
有一年感恩節，我們還在醫院里一起吃火雞；還有一年圣誕節，我們把所有的禮物都帶到醫院，讓她看著我們把禮物打開。
I tried my hardest to make her feel better, but nothing helped.
我想盡辦法想要使她感覺快樂一點，但是一切都是徒勞。
At home, taking care of my little sister became my job, along with cleaning the house, doing the laundry and cooking the meals.
在家里，照看小妹妹成了我的工作，同時我還要打掃房間、洗衣服、做飯。
I thought it was unfair, and took it out on my father.
我覺得這對我不公平，便發泄在爸爸身上。
I hated the fact that all my friends went out on Friday nights, while I had to stay home and play “Mommy”.
我所有的朋友都能在周五晚上出去玩，而我卻不得不待在家里，充當“媽媽”的角色，我討厭這個事實。
It was even harder for me to go to school while my mom was lying in the hospital.
更困難的是，媽媽躺在醫院的病床上，我還要去上學。
By now, I was sixteen.
我現在只有16歲。
Luckily she was there for my birthday party, and I’ll never forget hugging her as tears fell down both our faces.
幸運的是，媽媽出席了我的生日聚會，我永遠也不會忘記，當我擁抱她的時候，我們母女淚流滿面的情景。
I’m still thankful for that moment with my mother because it was the happiest I had seen her in four years.
我至今都對與媽媽在一起的那一刻充滿感激，因為那是四年來，我所見到的媽媽最快樂的時刻。
But once again, the happy days became sad.
但是，快樂的日子再一次變成了悲傷。
On June 15, I stayed home from school to take care of her.
6月15日，我沒去上學，而是留在家里照顧她。
Once again she was admitted to the hospital.
她再一次被送進醫院。
At first, no one could figure out what was wrong.
剛一開始，沒人能發現她出現了什么問題。
She remained in intensive care for a week.
媽媽在加護病房里一連待了一星期。
She began to do better.
后來她開始好起來。
Then on July 10 she became very sick, and on the eleventh she almost died.
但是7月10日，她的病情又加重了，到11日時，她已徘徊在生死線上。
It was getting harder and harder to deal with.
病情變得越來越難處理。
Every time she got really sick, she would always come back and do even better.
每一次當她瀕臨死亡時，她都能起死回生，甚至顯得更好些。
When the doctors finally realized why she was so sick, they put her on dialysis, a treatment for her kidneys.
當醫生們終于認識到她病情惡化的原因后，他們為她做了腎透析。
It seemed to work on August 17, we visited her and she was doing extremely well.
看起來透析很有效果，8月17日，我們去醫院看望她時，她的狀況非常好。
When I left, I kissed her and said, “I love you, Mom. See you tomorrow.”
我離開的時候，吻了她，對她說：“我愛您，媽媽。明天見。”
At 6:30 the next morning we received a call telling us she had passed away during the night.
第二天早上六點三十分，我們接到醫院的電話，被告知媽媽于昨晚去世了。
Today, a little over a year since my mom left, I am closer to my father and sister.
今天，媽媽離開我們已經一年多了，我與爸爸和妹妹的關系變得更加親密。
And along with accepting my family responsibilities, I have gained respect for my mom.
在接過了家庭責任的同時，我還因為媽媽得到了別人的尊敬。
I still don’t understand how she managed to accomplish all she did.
我仍然不能明白，媽媽是怎樣完成她所有的事業的。
As for being adopted, I have no desire to find my real parents.
身為養女，我并不想找到自己的生身父母。
The ones I have had are the only ones I’ll ever need.
我曾有過的父母才是我唯一需要的父母。
They taught me to be strong and follow my heart.
他們教育我要堅強，要跟隨自己的心。
Watching my mom smile through all her pain taught me that I can accomplish anything.
看著媽媽笑對痛苦，我懂得了，我可以完成任何事。
I know she’s with me through this important time in my life, and she’ll guide me in the night direction.
我知道，媽媽正陪我走過生命中這段重要的時光，她會引領我朝正確的方向前進。
“Thank you, Mom! I love you and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“謝謝您，媽媽！我愛您，明天見。”
