After much thought and practice (“ You can do whatever you have to do.” ), one night last winter, I sat down by his bed and remembered for an instant those terrifying dark holes in another house 35 years before. I told my fatherhow much I loved him. I described all the things people were doing for him. But, I said, he kept eating poorly, hiding in his room and violating the doctor's orders. No amount of love could make someone else care about life, I said; it was a two-way street. He wasn't doing his best. The decision was his. 　　

通過深思熟慮與親身體驗（“凡是你必須做的事你都能做到”），去年冬天的一個夜晚，我坐在老爸床邊，忽然想起35年前那另一棟房子里可怕的黑洞。我告訴老爸我有多愛他。我向他講述了人們為他所做的一切。而我又說，他總是吃得太少，躲在房間里，還不聽醫生的勸告。我說，再多的愛也不能使一個人自己去熱愛生命：這是一條雙行道，而他并沒有盡力，一切都取決于他自己。

He said he knew how hard my words had been to say and how proud he was of me. “ I had the best teacher,” I said. “ You can do whatever you have to do.” He smiled a little. And we shook hands, firmly, for the last time. 　　

他說他明白要我說出這些話多不容易，他是多么為我自豪。“我有位最好的老師，”我說，“凡是你必須做的事你都能做到”。他微微一笑，之后我們握手，那是一次堅定的握手，也是最后的一次。

Several days later, at about 4 A.M., my mother heard Dad shuffling[拖著] about their dark room. “ I have some things I have to do,” he said. He paid a bundle of bills. He composed for my mother a long list of legal and financial what-to-do's “ in case of emergency.” And he wrote me a note.

幾天后，大約凌晨四點，母親聽到父親拖著腳步在他們漆黑的房間里走來走去。他說：“有些事我必須得做。”他支付了一疊帳單，給母親留了張長長的條子，上面列有法律及經濟上該做的事，“以防不測”。接著他留了封短信給我。

Then he walked back to his bed and laid himself down. He went to sleep, naturally. And he did not wake up.

然后，他走回自己的床邊，躺下。他睡了，十分安詳，再也沒有醒來。