明天五月

A KIND AND GENEROUS HEART
一颗友善慷慨的心

      For our THIS I BELIEVE essay today, we hear from Christine Little, a circulation clerk at the public library in Bettendorf, Iowa. Bettendorf plus several other towns around the country, chose THIS I BELIEVE as one book the residence were asked to read last year. Everyone was also encouraged to contribute essays.
      这一期《我的信仰》的文章来自艾和华州贝顿道夫市公共图书馆流通处的职员克莉丝汀·里道。去年，贝顿道夫市与国内其他几个城市将《我的信仰》选为市民推介读物，并鼓励人们为我们栏目撰写文章。

      When she decided to write an essay, Christine Little said her text was both easy and difficult. Easy because she knew what she wanted to say; difficult because it was painful to say it. Here is Christin Little with her essay for THIS I BELIEVE.
      当初克莉丝汀决定写这篇文章时，她曾说这是一次既简单又艰难的写作。简单是因为她知道自己想说什么；艰难则是因为要把这些东西说出来非常痛苦。以下就是克莉丝汀·里道写给《我的信仰》的文章。

      I learnt my belief from my son. I believe in selfless giving.
      我从我的儿子身上找到了我的信仰。我信仰无私的奉献。

      8 years ago, my 13-year-old son Dustin became very ill with a heart enlarged to double its size. The medical term, as unimportant as to a grieving mother, was cardiomyopahty. For several months, Dustin lived on lifesupport, as we were forced to stand by and watch him wither away. While his friends were out playing baseball, flirting with girls and sleeping on their own beds, my son was in a hospital bed, attached to a machine that kept his heart beating.
      八年前，我的儿子达斯汀正值十三岁，那时他患上了很严重的疾病，他的心脏扩大到了原来的两倍。这种病的医学名称——尽管对一个悲伤的母亲来说这一点儿都不重要——叫做“心肌症”。一连好几个月，达斯汀都得依靠机器维持生命，而我们只能在一旁束手无策地看着他一点一点消逝。当他的小哥们儿正在外面玩棒球、同女孩子打情骂俏、回家后又能睡在自己床上的时候，达斯汀却只能躺在医院的病床上，靠一部机器来维持心跳。

      As a mother, my first reaction after crying was anger. And then I played the bargaining game--"take my life for his, Lord. I've lived my life, but he still has so much to do."
      作为一个母亲，我哭了，我感到愤怒。后来我开始了同上帝的讨价还价——“主啊，请拿我的命来换我儿子的生命吧，我已经活得够久了，可他还有那么多事情可以去做。”

      People all around me were praying for a heart to become available, but it made me so angry and confused because I knew for that to happen, someone else's child would have to die. How could anyone pray for that?
      我身边的朋友们都开始帮我祈祷，希望能尽快找到一个可替换的心脏。但是，看着他们祈祷我又不禁觉得生气、迷惘，因为我知道，如果我们找到了可替换的心脏，便意味着另外一个人的孩子已经死亡。那么人们又怎么可以如此祈祷呢？

      I still remember so clearly the morning we got the call that there was a heart. As we stood in Dustin's hospital room, watching them prep him for surgery, we experienced the true definition of bittersweet. His dad and I, seemingly in unison, realized that at the precise moment we were standing there with so much hope and so much love, another family somewhere were saying goodbye. We knelt down together and cried and we prayed for them and we thanked them for giving such a selfless gift.
      我依然清楚地记得那个早晨，我们接到了电话说找到心脏了。而就当我们站在达斯汀的医院里看着周围的人正准备给他动手术时，我们尝到了“悲喜交加”的真正滋味。达斯汀的父亲和我似乎是不约而同地意识到了，就在那一刻，正当我们满怀希望与爱站在那里的时候，不知什么地方的另一个家庭正在同他们的亲人告别。我们跪了下去，哭泣着，为那个家庭的人们祈祷，并感谢他们给了我们这样一份无私的礼物。
 
      To our amazement, just 10 days later, Dustin got to come home for the first time in mant months. He had turned 14 in the hospital and at such a young age, he had received a second chance of life. Over the next 2 years he got to go to high school, learn to drive and have his first girl friend. He got to spend time with his family and be in the great ourdoors, which was where he truly loved to be. He put his brand new heart to good use volunteering at the homeless shelter and helping the elderly. He also became a very devoted Christian young man.
      令我们惊奇的是，仅仅在十天之后，达斯汀就康复出院了，那是他几个月来第一次回家。在医院里他已经度过了他十四岁的生日，在如此小的年纪里，他就已经体会到了重获新生的感觉。接下去的那两年，他上了高中，学会了开车，并交上了第一个女朋友。他在家里可以同家人相处，到了外面又可以享受美丽的大自然，他也真的非常热爱大自然。达斯汀把他那颗全新的心放在了做善事之上，他是流浪者收容所里的自愿者，他还热心帮助孤寡老人。另外，他也成了一个虔诚的基督教徒。

      Dustin's new heart failed him when he was 16. A tragedy, yes, but we have to see it as the miracle it was. We receive two precious years with him that we will never have had without organ donation. We have more pictures, more memories and a great satisfaction in knowing that he was able to experience some of the most exciting times and milestones in a teenager's life.
      达斯汀的新的心脏在两年之后出现了衰竭，那年他十六岁。是的，这不能不说是一个悲剧，但我们仍然把它视为奇迹。我们已经收获了两年与达斯汀在一起的宝贵时光，如果没有那个捐赠的器官，我们不可能拥有这一切。我们照了更多的相，收藏了更多回忆，也感到很满足，因为我们知道，达斯汀获得了去经历一个年轻人最为激动的几个成长瞬间的机会。

      When he died, as difficult as it was for us, we knew that it would be Dustin's wish to give back. His eyes went to someone who wanted to see. Someone who, perhaps, had never seen the faces of the family he loved so dearly. I believe one day, I would  look into someone else's son or daughter, and I would see those sky blue eyes looking back at me--the evidence of selfless giving.
      尽管这对我们来说很艰难，但达斯汀去世的时候，我们都知道是到了他该回赠的时候了，相信这也是他自己的心愿。他的眼角膜被赠给了渴望光明的人，那些人可能还从来没有机会亲眼看到他们所深爱着的家人的模样。我相信在将来某一天，当我将目光投向某个人的儿子或女儿的时候，我会看到那双湛蓝的眼睛也正回望着我——那就是无私奉献的证据。

      Christine Little with her essay for THIS I BELIEVE. Little said that even thought it was hard for her to talk about this subject, it would be worth it if after hearing it, a single person choose to become an organ donator.
      以上就是克莉丝汀·里道为《我的信仰》撰写的文章。里道女士说尽管谈起这个话题令她感到为难，但如果那怕只有一个人在听了这篇文章后决定成为一个器官捐赠者，那么它就是值得的。

       Original source from THIS I BELIEVE ( www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4538138 ). Translated by me. Visit the website and search for Christine Little's essay, you can hear the author read her own essay.