12 Post Cards

My teen-age daughter was preparing to return home after having visited her grandparents for a few weeks one summer. Her grandfather gave her 12 post cards .

　　"Here, write us a few lines every month," he said.

　　Months passed and the cards remained unused-that is until the day this letter arrived:

　　"Dear Jennifer,

　　Life is a series of stages.

　　As a child, I looked forward to becoming a teenager-that happened.

　　As a teen-ager ,I looked forward to becoming a young man-that happened.

　　As a young man, I looked forward to meeting a young woman, in love and becoming a married man-that happened.

　　As a married man, I looked forward to becoming a father-that happened.

　　As a father, I looked forward to becoming a grandfather to beautiful ,intelligent grandchildren-that happened.

　　Then I looked forward to the day they would learn to write-that hasn't happened yet.

　　Yours Sincerely"

十二張卡片

　　一個夏天，我十多歲的女兒在她祖父母家過了幾周。她準備回家時，祖父給了她十二張卡片。

　　“每月給我們來個短信，”他說。

　　幾個月過去了，可卡片一直放在那兒沒用----直到有一天來了這樣一封信：

　　“親愛的詹妮芙：

　　生活是一系列階段組成的。

　　還是個孩子的時候，我期待著成為一個青少年----我如愿以償了。

　　還是個年輕人的時候，我期待著遇到一個年輕的女人，戀愛、結婚----我如愿以償了。

　　結了婚，我便期待著成為一個父親----我如愿以償了。

　　作為父親，我期待著成為一個祖父，有漂亮、聰明的孫兒孫女----我也如愿以償了。

　　接著，我期待著有一天他們能給我寫信----我卻還沒有如愿以償。