超市之行

A TRIP TO THE SUPERMARKET

I walked into the grocery store, not particularly interested in buying anything. The pain of losing my husband of 37 years was still raw. And this store held so many sweet memories.

Rudy often came with me and every time he’d pretend to go off and look for something special. And I’d then see him walking back to me with three yellow roses. Rudy knew I loved them.

The grocery store is different since Rudy passed away. Shopping for one took time, a little more thought than it had for two. Standing by the meat, I searched for the perfect small steak and remembered how Rudy had loved his steak.

Suddenly a woman came beside me. I watched as she picked up a package of T-bones and dropped them in the basket, hesitated, and then put them back. She saw me watching her and smiled. “My husband loves T-bones, but honestly, at these prices, I don’t know.”

I swallowed the emotion down my throat and met her blue eyes. “My husband passed away eight days ago,” I told her. Glancing at the package, I fought to control the tremble in my voice. “Buy him the steaks. And cherish every moment you have together.”

She shook her head and I saw the emotion in her eyes as she placed the package in her basket and wheeled away. Ten minutes later, I saw her walking towards me, carrying a package in her arms. On her face was the brightest smile I had ever seen. As she came near, I saw what she held and tears began misting in my eyes.

“These are for you,” she said and placed three beautiful yellow roses in my arms. She leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on my check, then smiled again. I wanted to tell her what she’d done, what the rose meant, but still unable to speak, I watched as she walked away as tears clouded my vision.

I looked down at the beautiful roses nestled in the green tissue wrapping and found it almost unreal. How did she know?

Suddenly the answer seemed so clear. I wasn’t alone. “Oh, Rudy, you haven’t forgotten me, have you?” I whispered, with tears in my eyes. He was still with me, and she was his angel.

Every day be thankful for what you have and who you are.

【日積月累】

◇raw adj. 刺痛的

◇T-bone n. 丁字牛排(從牛腰部細小的末端提取的含有T形骨的厚的上等牛排)

◇wheel v.（鳥等）盤旋；突然轉身，轉變方向；旋轉，轉動

◇vision n. 視覺，眼光

【參考譯文】

超市之行

我走進食品雜貨店的時候，沒什么心思買東西。失去了相伴37載的丈夫，疼痛依然強烈。這家店保留著我們那么多美好的回憶。

魯迪常常和我一起來，每次他都假裝走開去找某件商品，接著我就會看到他拿著三支黃玫瑰走回來，他知道我喜歡。

魯迪去世后商店變得不一樣了。一個人買東西費時間，比兩個人一起買時用得多。站在肉柜邊，我尋找最佳的小牛排，想起魯迪有多么喜歡吃牛排。

突然一位女士走到我身邊。我看見她拿起一塊包裝好的丁字牛排放進籃子里，猶豫了一會兒，又放了回去。她發現我在看她，便笑了：“我丈夫愛吃牛排，但是說實話，我不知道有這么貴。”

我抑制住情緒的波動，直視著她藍色的眼睛：“我丈夫8天前去世了，”我告訴她。我瞟了一眼那塊牛排，努力不讓聲音顫抖。“給他買下這塊牛排吧。珍惜和他在一起的每一刻。”

她搖了搖頭，把牛排放進籃子里，轉身離開了，我看到了她眼里的觸動。10分鐘后，她朝我走來，抱著一個包裹。她臉上綻開著我見過最燦爛的笑容。當她走近的時候，我看清了她抱的是什么，眼睛開始迷蒙。

“給你，”她說，把3支漂亮的黃色玫瑰花放進我懷里。靠過來在我臉頰上輕輕吻了一下，然后又笑了。我想告訴她她真正做了什么，想告訴她這些玫瑰意味著什么，但是說不出話來，看著她離去，我的視線開始模糊。

我低下頭看著依偎在綠色包裝紙里的美麗玫瑰，感覺一點都不真實。她怎么知道？

突然答案變得清晰。我不是一個人。“噢，魯迪，你沒有忘記我，對嗎？”我含淚輕聲問。他還在我身邊，她是他派來的天使。

不管你是誰，擁有什么，每一天都心懷感激吧。

【人生啟迪】

你肯定有幾家經常關顧的商店，和里面的店員已經熟絡，和其他幾個常客有了點頭之交。你不知道他們的姓名，可記得他們的特征，那個眼睛大大的收銀員，那一對總是一起來買東西的夫妻，那一個鐘愛酸奶的女孩。你在關注別人的同時，他們也在關注你。不要吝惜你的關心，它不會因為使用過度而減少，反而會越來越多。終于一天你會發現你付出的關心都得到了回應。