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The table had to go. The next morning, Ilse called to ask about her table.
桌子必須得弄走。第二天早上，伊爾絲問她的桌子去哪了。
She was angry and told me how upset she was that I had given away a family heirloom.
她很生氣，我把她的一個傳家寶送出去了，這讓她很心煩。
Then she hung up on me. When Ilse called that evening to apologize, I told my husband to say I wasn't home.
然后她就掛了我的電話。當(dāng)伊爾絲晚上打電話道歉時，我讓丈夫跟她說我不在家。
I was still angry and hurt. The following day, I returned her call but was unable to understand what she was saying.
我還是很生氣，很傷心。第二天，我給她回了電話，無法聽懂她說的話。
I drove her to the emergency room, where the doctor confirmed she had suffered a mild stroke.
我開車送她去急診室，醫(yī)生確認(rèn)她有一次輕微的中風(fēng)發(fā)作。
During the next few days, I dropped by her apartment, but she was no longer the vibrant, obstinate Ilse I knew.
在接下來的幾天里，我去她的公寓去看她，但是她不再是那個我認(rèn)識的活潑的倔強的伊爾絲了。
At the end of the week, I received an early-morning call from her caregiver.
周末時，清晨我從她的看護(hù)著那里接到了一個電話。
"Please come over now," the woman said, her voice matter-of-fact. "She's passed away."
那女人平淡地說，“請過來一趟，她去世了。”
When I arrived, I saw Ilse lying on her bed, motionless, her eyes closed.
我到了，看到伊爾絲躺在她的床上，閉著眼睛，一動不動。
I sat on the edge of the bed and held her frail hand, too shocked to cry.
我坐在床邊，握著她脆弱的手，我太震驚了，沒哭出來。
The morning after Ilse's death, I pulled her will out of my file cabinet.
伊爾絲死后的這天早上，我從文件柜里拿出她的遺囑。
Ilse had insisted I take a copy of it a year earlier. I read through it and stopped when I saw my name.
一年前，伊爾絲堅持要我把遺囑復(fù)印一份。我讀著遺囑，看到我的名字時定住了，
She had left me $50,000. I didn't remember her saying anything about her bequest.
她留給我50000美元。我不記得她說過任何關(guān)于她遺囑的事情。
If she had, I would have insisted she donate the money to charity or give it to a friend she had known longer.
如果她提到的話，我會堅持讓她把錢捐給慈善機構(gòu)，或者留給她認(rèn)識時間更長的朋友。
I knew I couldn't spend what she had left me on myself.
我知道我不能把她留給我的錢花在自己身上。
Ilse was a friend I'd helped out of loyalty and respect, not with the expectation of being paid.
伊爾絲是我出于忠誠和尊重而幫助的朋友，而不是為了得到報酬。
Her attorney sent me a check, and I opened an investment account in her honor.
她的律師寄給我一張支票，我以她的名字開了一個投資賬戶。
Over the next 20 years, Ilse's gift grew and gave me the opportunity to disperse funds in her name to a cause she cared about deeply: children.
在接下來的20年里，伊爾莎的捐贈不斷增多，這讓我有機會以她的名義把資金投入到一項她非常關(guān)心的事業(yè)：兒童。
Various families and charities benefited from her donations. Some families received funds to send their grade-schoolers to summer camp.
很多家庭和慈善機構(gòu)從她的捐贈中獲益。一些家庭用收到的基金送他們的小學(xué)生去夏令營。
Through the local food bank's "Food 4 Kids" program,
通過當(dāng)?shù)厥澄镢y行的Food 4 Kids活動，
her donation provided children who relied on daily school meals with weekend backpacks filled with food to take home with them on Fridays.
她讓那些每天依靠著學(xué)校餐的孩子可以每周五背著裝滿食物的書包回家。
A few days before my unconventional friend died, I heard her on the phone asking about "the odds."
就在我那位非傳統(tǒng)的朋友去世前幾天，我聽到她在電話里問我“勝算有多大”。
I don't know whether her last bet paid off—I didn't ask her bookie when I met her at Ilse's funeral.
我不知道她最后一筆賭博有沒有贏下來，在伊爾絲的葬禮上我沒有問她關(guān)于賭博的事。
Yet the gamble I'd taken years before when I placed a call to the senior center
但是在多年之前，當(dāng)我打電話給老年公寓時，我就參與了這賭博，
and met Ilse had definitely made my life richer.
遇到伊爾絲真正地讓我的生活變豐富了。
I took a chance on humanity, and Ilse's friendship was the jackpot.
我相信了人性，伊爾絲的友誼就是大獎。
