愛(ài)永遠(yuǎn)不遲

My aunt died back in about 2003. She was eighty-four and so was my uncle. When she passed he was devastated. They had been married for over 60 years. We expected him to pass on quickly after she died. He attended his church more frequently and his mourning was nearly unbearable to witness. His only daughter lived clear across the country so he had only the rest of the extended family and church family to comfort him.

我伯母大約在2003年去世。她已是84歲高齡，我伯父與她同齡。伯母的去世對(duì)伯父來(lái)說(shuō)是個(gè)沉重的打擊。他們結(jié)婚超過(guò)60年了。伯母去世后，我們以為伯父很快也會(huì)跟著離開(kāi)。伯父愈加頻繁地去教會(huì)，他的悲慟幾乎令人不忍目睹。他唯一的女兒一直住在離他很遠(yuǎn)的另一個(gè)地方，因而他只能從家族的遠(yuǎn)親以及教會(huì)同伴那里尋求慰藉。

My cousin talked him into selling the house that he and my aunt had built together abouttwenty-five years before. It was very hard to part with the home they built together. He wasgoing to move into an apartment, but at the last moment, my cousin and he saw a new housefor sale, that was close to his business. She helped him buy furniture and a flat screentelevision. He had not watched television for years because of his religion. He was like a kid witha new toy but still grieved horribly for my aunt.

我堂姐游說(shuō)伯父賣掉那棟他和伯母大概在25年前一起建造的房子。要離開(kāi)他倆一起建造的“家”，這對(duì)伯父而言非常艱難。他準(zhǔn)備搬進(jìn)一間公寓，不過(guò)就在最后一刻，我堂姐和他看中了一棟待售的新房，而且這房子離伯父的公司很近。堂姐幫伯父買來(lái)了家具和一臺(tái)平板電視機(jī)。由于他的宗教信仰，伯父已經(jīng)很多年沒(méi)有看電視了。他如同一個(gè)拿到一件新玩具的孩子那樣開(kāi)心，不過(guò)對(duì)于伯母的離去，他還是非常傷心。

One day he called my cousin who was living in Texas and told her that he reconnected with alady from a church that he and my aunt went to forty years previously. She played piano andhis church was looking for new music. Her husband had died about seven years previously. Hesaid he just wanted someone to go out to dinner with and spend time with. We were happy forthem but had no idea how it would turn out. They were both almost eighty-seven years old.

有一天，伯父打電話給我那住在得克薩斯州的堂姐，告訴她說(shuō)他和一位女士重新取得了聯(lián)系，而那位女士來(lái)自他和伯母40多年前常去的一間教堂。那位女士會(huì)彈鋼琴，而伯父所在的教會(huì)正要找新的音樂(lè)伴奏。那位女士的丈夫大約七年前去世了。伯父說(shuō)，他只是想有個(gè)人一起出去吃飯，一起消磨時(shí)光。我們很為他們倆高興，卻不知道結(jié)果會(huì)如何。他們倆都將近87歲高齡。

They were like lovebirds and spent as much time together as they could. They both had onechild each, she a son, he a daughter. She had a house that her father built for her when shegot married to her first husband. She was content there.

他們倆如同一對(duì)恩愛(ài)夫妻一般，盡可能多地在一起共度時(shí)光。他們各自都有一個(gè)孩子，她有個(gè)兒子，而他有個(gè)女兒。她有棟房子，是她父親在她和第一任丈夫結(jié)婚時(shí)為她建的。她在里面住得很滿意。

The other fly in the ointment was that they were both very busy people. They both still worked!They were in their mid-eighties and both had their own family businesses. She worked for herson who took over the family business and he had his own business.

另一處美中不足的是，他們倆都是非常忙碌的人。他們倆都仍然在工作!他們都已80多歲，都還有各自的家族生意。她為已經(jīng)接管了家族生意的兒子工作，而他有自己的公司。

The clash in their relationship came when they neither wanted to leave their respectivechurches. She went to her Baptist church that she had attended for many years and he went tohis, which was a Pentecostal. They decided to remain friends but nothing more. He was broken-hearted, but felt that his religion was the only way. She didn’t want to leave her church anddidn’t like the extreme of his.

他們都不愿意脫離各自的教會(huì)，這使得他們的關(guān)系出現(xiàn)了沖突。她去的是已經(jīng)加入多年的浸禮會(huì)，而他去的是五旬節(jié)派教會(huì)。他們決定只做朋友，別無(wú)他求。對(duì)此，伯父?jìng)牟灰?，不過(guò)他感到自己的信仰是唯一的撫慰方式。而她不想離開(kāi)自己所在的教會(huì)，也不喜歡他的教會(huì)那么偏激。不久，兩人意識(shí)到他們并不想分開(kāi)。他們要一起加入一個(gè)新的教會(huì)，并打算結(jié)婚。當(dāng)他帶著她前往一家珠寶店給她買鉆戒時(shí)，那些店員們都非常感動(dòng)，寫了一大篇文章發(fā)表在我們當(dāng)?shù)氐膱?bào)紙上，標(biāo)題為“情人節(jié)‘真諦’”。他們?yōu)榛槎Y做著準(zhǔn)備。由于他們倆都迫不及待地想要“在一起”，而不結(jié)婚就不是嚴(yán)格意義上的“在一起”，所以他們把婚期提前了。

Before too long they realized that they did not want to be apart. They would find a new churchtogether. They planned to marry. When he took her to a jewelry store and bought her adiamond, the employees were so impressed that they had a big write up in our own localpaper, "'The Truth' for Valentines' Day." They prepared for their wedding. They moved thewedding date up because neither wanted to wait any longer to "be together," and it was notproper to "be together" without being married.

他們?cè)谒姆孔永锱e行了婚禮，并決定婚后一起住在那里。這是一件看來(lái)如此美好而令人欣喜的事情——兩位你原以為已經(jīng)度過(guò)了大半生的老人即將在一起開(kāi)始新生活。我從未看到我伯父像現(xiàn)在這般快樂(lè)幸福。他仍然沉浸在愛(ài)河中，而且他們彼此深愛(ài)著對(duì)方。

They got married in her house, where they decided they would live. It was such a beautifulrefreshing thing to see, two people who you would have thought had pretty much lived theirlives, were beginning a new one together. I have never seen my uncle happier. He is still in loveand she loves him as much as he loves her.

如果你曾認(rèn)為，尋找真愛(ài)對(duì)你來(lái)說(shuō)已經(jīng)太遲，或者你的人生已經(jīng)結(jié)束了，那么你應(yīng)該多看看像他們倆這樣的浪漫故事。他們都還在工作，而且他們現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)結(jié)婚將近兩年了。再過(guò)兩個(gè)月，他們倆都將迎來(lái)90歲高壽，他們熱愛(ài)兩人在一起的生活。同時(shí)，他們?nèi)匀痪S系著各自的家庭、一起去教堂、和他們的家人朋友們一起外出聚餐。尋找真愛(ài)永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)太遲，無(wú)論是再一次還是第一次!