She was beautiful too. When a local photographer used her pictures in his monthly window display, she was flattered. Her favorite portrait showed her sitting by Lake Michigan, her hair windblown, her gaze reaching toward the horizon. My mother always used to say that when you died, God gave you back your "best self". She'd show us that picture and say, "This is what I'm going to look like in heaven."
母親長得也很美。那時當地有位攝影師把她的照片放在一月一換的櫥窗里展覽，她心里美滋滋的。母親最心愛的照片是她坐在密歇根湖畔照的，照片上，她的頭發被風吹起，眼睛眺望著遠方。母親總說，一個人死后，上帝會歸還他“他最美好的形象”。她會給我們看這張照片并說；“這就是日后我在天堂里的樣子。”

　　My parents were married in 1944. Dad was a quiet and intelligent man who was 17 when he left Italy. Soon after, a hit-and-run accident left him with a permanent limp. Dad worked hard selling candy to Chicago office workers on their break. He had little formal schooling. His English was self-taught. Yet he eventually built a small, successful wholesale candy business. Dad was generous, handsome and deeply religious. Mama was devoted to him.
　 我的父母是在1944年結婚的。父親話不多，人很聰明，17歲離開意大利。此后不久，發生了一起車禍，肇事者逃了，卻使父親只能終身跛行了。他工作勤奮，向工間休息的芝加哥辦公樓的工作人員兜售糖果。父親沒受過什么正規教育，他的英語是自學的。然而最終他開起了一家小型的糖果批發店，生意很紅火。爸爸為人慷慨，相貌英俊，還是一個虔誠的教徒。媽媽深深地愛著他。

　　After she married, my mother quit her job and gave herself to her family. In 1950, with three children, Dad moved the family to a farm 40 miles from Chicago. He worked the land and commuted to the city to run his business. Mama said good-by to her parents and friends and traded her busy city neighborhood for a more isolated life. But she never complained. By 1958, our modest white farmhouse was filled with six children, and Mama was delighted.
　 婚后，母親辭去工作，一心照顧家庭。1950年，爸爸帶著 3個孩子把家搬到了離芝加哥40英里的一家農場。他一面在農場干活，一面往返芝加哥做他的糖果批發生意。媽媽也告別了父母和朋友及快節奏的城市生活，過起了離群索居的日子。但她從無怨言。到1958年，我們這座簡樸的農場白色小屋里有了六個孩子，媽媽非常高興。

　　"Think Big". My mother never studied books on parenting. Yet she knew how to raise children. She heightened our self-esteem and helped us reach our potential.
　　“胸懷大志” 母親從沒看過生兒育女方面的書籍，然而她懂得該如何教育子女。她激發我們的自尊心，并幫助我們發揮自己的潛能。

　　One fall day, I sat at the kitchen table while Mama peeled potatoes. She spied Dad out the window on his tractor and smiled. "Your father has accomplished so much, ' she said proudly. "He really is somebody."
　　秋季的一天，我坐在廚房桌子旁邊，母親在削土豆皮。她透過窗子看到父親坐在拖拉機上，笑了。“你爸爸已卓有成就了，”她自豪地說。“他真是個了不起的人!”