Dear Dad,
Today I was at the shopping mall and I spent a lot of time reading the Father’s Day cards. They all had a special message that in some way or another reflected how I feel about you. Yet as I selected and read, and selected and read again, it occurred to me that not a single card said what I really want to say to you.
親愛的爸爸:
今天我在商場的時候, 我讀了好長時間的有關“父親節”的賀卡。那些卡片上面的文字很特別,也或多或少地表達出了我對您的感受。我挑選讀過一次后,又挑選讀了一遍,但那并不是一張賀卡所能表達出我想對您說的話的。
You’ll soon be 84 years old, Dad, and you and I will have had 55 Father’s Days together. I haven’t always been with you on Father’s Day nor have I been with you for all of your birthdays. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to be with you. I’ve always been with you in my heart but sometimes life gets in the way.
爸爸,很快您就要84歲了,您和我也將度過這第55個“父親節”?!案赣H節”的那天,我總是不能和您在一起,連您過生日的時候我也是這樣,但這并不是因為我不想陪在您身邊。其實,在我心里,我總是和您在一起。不過,有的時候,生活也會有差錯。
You know, Dad, there was a time when we were not only separated by the generation gap but completely polarized by it. You stood on one side of the Great Divide and I on the other, father and daughter split apart by age and experience, opinions, hairstyles, cosmetics, clothing, curfews, music, and boys.
爸爸,您也知道,我們父女倆曾有一段時間因為代溝不在一起過,比如年齡、個人閱歷、觀點、發型、化妝、服裝、音樂、作息時間以及男朋友,因為這些,我們的觀點也非常對立。您站在“大分離”的一端,我站在“大分離”的另一端。
The Father-Daughter Duel of ’54 shifted into high gear when you taught me to drive the old Dodge and I decided I would drive the ‘54 Chevy whether you liked it or not. The police officer who escorted me home after you reported the Chevy stolen late one evening was too young to understand father-daughter politics and too old to have much tolerance for a snotty 16 year old. You were so decent about it, Dad, and I think that was probably what made it the worst night of my life.
那時,您教我學開那部道奇舊車,可我卻不管您喜歡不喜歡執意要開雪拂蘭’54那輛車。當時,我們父女倆關于雪拂蘭汽車的爭執也調到了最高擋??赡翘焱砩?,您卻報警說雪拂蘭車被盜。之后,一個警官把我護送到家,可他太年輕了,根本不明白我們父女倆之間的政治斗爭,可他也不小了,對一個16歲的流鼻涕的小孩卻沒有太多的耐心。爸爸,您倒對這件事處理得很體面,而我想那可能是我一生中最糟糕的一個夜晚吧。