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On this particular sunny afternoon, Mother and I sat quietly breathing in the scent of freshly mown grass. She was unusually solemn and took me by surprise when she asked me, "Who will you bring here after I'm gone?"
在這個陽光明媚的下午，母親和我靜靜坐著，呼吸著新剪的草散發出的清香。她的神情異常嚴肅，出乎意料地問我道：“我死了以后，你會帶誰來？”
I gave her one of my arched-eyebrow inquiries, then smiled. After a few moments, when she didn't return my smile, I began to wonder what made her ask such a disturbing question. Mother picked up a blade of grass and began to shred it with her fingernail. I'd become well acquainted with my mother's habits, and this particular one indicated she had something serious on her mind.
我皺起了眉頭，狐疑地看了她一眼，然后微微笑了。過了一會兒，她還沒有回以微笑，我開始納悶她為什么會提出這樣一個令人不安的問題。母親撿起一片草葉，開始用指甲將它劃成碎片。我非常了解母親的各種習慣，這個動作表明她有心事。
For several minutes, we sat in silence gathering our thoughts. A couple of blue birds squawked nearby and an airplane flew overhead, but they didn't ease the awkward moment between us. Finally, I reached over and took my mother's hand in mine. "There's nothing you can't tell me, Mother," I said. "We will handle this together, like we always have."
有好幾分鐘的時間，我們靜靜地坐著，整理著自己的思緒。附近，幾只藍背樫鳥在嘎嘎叫著；頭頂，一架飛機飛過，但這些并沒有消除我們之間的尷尬。最后，我伸出手，握住了媽媽的手，“媽，什么事都可以跟我說的，”我說，“我們可以一起面對，就像以前一樣。”
She looked into my face, and her eyes filled with tears that spilt down her cheeks ― cheeks that were alarmingly pale. Even before she said it, I knew what was coming. Mother was dying.
她凝視著我的臉，眼里噙著淚水，眼淚順著臉頰流了下來，臉色蒼白得嚇人。她還沒開口，我就知道了：母親將不久于人世了。
I held her tightly while she told me that her heart condition was worsening and couldn't be repaired. I think I had known for quite a while but had not been willing to admit it to myself. She'd had several heart attacks and, a few years ago, even open-heart surgery. What I didn't know, and what she had kept from me, was that her condition wasn't improving. We talked about her options, which were few; we cried, held each other and wished for more time together.
我緊緊地抱著她，聽她訴說：她的心臟病越來越嚴重了，已經無藥可救了。我想這個情況我已經知道一段時間了，只是一直不愿面對。她的心臟病已經發作了好幾次，幾年前還做過心內直視手術。但有一點我一無所知，而且她也一直瞞著我，那就是她的情況毫無好轉。我們討論了一下她的治療方案，其實也是寥寥無幾。我們哭了，擁抱在一起，只愿能有更多的時間在一起。
