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A friend told me, shortly after that, that she had heard that Tim Russert,
在那不久后，我的一個朋友就告訴我，她聽說提姆·路塞特，
a nationally renowned journalist, had been talking about me on national T.V.
一個全國知名的記者在全國播放的電視節目上談論到了我。
An essay I'd written about my father, the year before he died, was in Tim's new book.
一篇我寫的關于我父親的短文，在他去世前一年寫的，被收錄到了提姆的新書里。
And he was doing the talk show circuit. And he was talking about my writing.
他那時在做巡回演講，提到我的寫作。
And when I realized that Tim Russert, former moderator of "Meet the Press," was talking about my writing,
當我發現提姆路塞特，前MeetthePress節目的調解員，在談論我的寫作。
while I was living in a van in a Wal-Mart parking lot, I started laughing. You should too.
而我卻生活在停在沃爾瑪停車場里的旅行車里面，我開始笑了，呵，你們也該笑笑。
I started laughing because it got to the point where, was I a writer, or was I a homeless woman?
我開始笑，因為這正是問題根結，我是一位作家呢，還是一位無家可歸的女人？
So I went in the bookstore. And I found Tim's book. And I stood there.
于是我走進一家書店。找到提姆的書。我站在那，
And I reread my essay. And I cried. Because I was a writer. I was a writer. Shortly after that I moved back to Tennessee.
又重新讀了一遍我寫的短文。我哭了。因為我是一位作家，是一位作家。在那之后，我很快就搬回了田納西。
I alternated between living in a van and couch surfing with friends. And I started writing again.
有時住在車里，有時會去朋友家睡沙發。我又重新開始寫作了。
By the summer of the following year I was a working journalist. I was winning awards.
在接踵而來的夏天里，我又成為了一名新聞記者。
I was living in my own apartment. I was no longer homeless. And I was no longer invisible.
我得了獎，住在我自己的公寓里。我不再無家可歸。我也不再被無視。
Thousands of people work full and part-time jobs, and live in their cars.
無數的人在從事著全職和兼職的工作，而且住在他們的車里。
But society continues to stigmatize and criminalize living in your vehicle or on the streets.
但是社會還繼續污蔑他們并視住在交通工具里或者睡在街上為犯罪。
So the homeless, the working homeless, primarily remain invisible.
所以那些無家可歸，有工作但是無家可歸的人，大部分還是隱藏著的。
But if you ever meet one, engage them, encourage them, and offer them hope.
但是如果你見到了，雇用他們，鼓勵他們，并給予他們希望。
The human spirit can overcome anything if it has hope. And I'm not here to be the poster girl for the homeless.
只要有希望，人類的精神可以克服一切困難。我并不是來這里為無家可歸的人做宣傳的。
I'm not here to encourage you to give money to the next panhandler you meet.
我不是來這里鼓勵你們去施舍下一個你見到的乞丐。
But I am here to tell you that, based on my experience, people are not where they live,
而我在這里是來告訴你們，根據我過去的經歷，人不是由他們所住的地方，
where they sleep, or what their life situation is at any given time.
睡得地方，或者他們在任何一個時間的生活狀態所決定的。
Three years ago I was living in a van in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and today I'm speaking at TED.
三年前，我住在一個停在沃爾瑪的停車場的汽車里。而今天我卻在TED演講。
Hope always, always finds a way. Thank you.
希望永遠，永遠，會指引前路。謝謝。
