The first memory I have of him -- of anything, really -- is his strength. It was in the late afternoon in a house under construction near ours. The unfinished wood floor had large, terrifying holes whose yawning darkness I knew led to nowhere good. His powerful hands, then age 33, wrapped all the way around my tiny arms, then age 4, and easily swung me up to his shoulders to command all I surveyed.
The relationship between a son and his father changes over time. It may grow and flourish in mutual maturity. It may sour in resented(怨恨) dependence or independence. With many children living in single-parent homes today, it may not even exist.
But to a little boy right after World War II ,a father seemed a god with strange strengths and uncanny(神秘的,离奇的) powers enabling him to do and know things that no mortal could do or know. Amazing things, like putting a bicycle chain back on, just like that. Or building a hamster(仓鼠) cage.Or guiding a jigsaw(拼图玩具) so it forms the letter F; I learned the alphabet that way in those pre-television days.
There were, of course, rules to learn. First came the handshake. None of those fishy little finger grips, but a good firm squeeze accompanied by an equally strong gaze into the other's eyes. "The first thing anyone knows
As time passed, there were other rules to learn. "Always do your best." "Do it now." "Never lie!" And most
One day, I realize now, there was a change. I wasn't trying to please him so much as I was trying to impress him. I never asked him to come to my football games. He had a high-pressure career, and it meant driving through most of Friday night. But for all the big games, when I looked over at the sideline, there was that familiar fedora. And by God, did the opposing team captain ever get a firm handshake and a gaze he would remember.
Then, a school fact contradicted something he said. Impossible that he could be wrong, but there it was in the book. These accumulated over time, along with personal experiences, to buttress my own developing sense of values. And I could tell we had each taken our own, perfectly normal paths.
I began to see, too, his blind spots, his prejudices and his weaknesses. I never threw these up at him. He hadn't to me, and, anyway, he seemed to need protection. I stopped asking his advice; the experiences he drew from no longer seemed relevant to the decisions I had to make.
He volunteered advice for a while. But then, in more recent years, politics and issues gave way to talk of empty errands and, always, to ailments.
From his bed, he showed me the many sores and scars on his misshapen body and all the bottles for medicine. "Sometimes," he confided(吐露), "I would just like to lie down and go to sleep and not wake up."
After much thought and practice ("You can do whatever you have to do."), one night last winter, I sat down by his bed and remembered for an instant those terrifying dark holes in another house 35 years before. I told my fatherhow much I loved him. I described all the things people were doing for him. But, I said, he kept eating poorly, hiding in his room and violating the doctor's orders. No amount of love could make someone else care
He said he knew how hard my words had been to say and how proud he was of me. "I had the best teacher," I said. "You can do whatever you have to do." He smiled a little. And we shook hands, firmly, for the last time.
Several days later, at
Then he walked back to his bed and laid himself down. He went to sleep, naturally. And he did not wake up.
相关单词:mutual
mutual解释:adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的
mutual例句:
We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。
相关单词:maturity
maturity解释:n.成熟;完成;(支票、债券等)到期
maturity例句:
These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。
相关单词:dependence
dependence解释:n.依靠,依赖;信任,信赖;隶属
dependence例句:
Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。
相关单词:jigsaw
jigsaw解释:n.缕花锯,竖锯,拼图游戏;vt.用竖锯锯,使互相交错搭接
jigsaw例句:
A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.一副拼图就能让我沉醉几个小时。
Tom likes to work on jigsaw puzzles,too.汤姆也喜欢玩拼图游戏。
相关单词:fishy
fishy解释:adj. 值得怀疑的
fishy例句:
It all sounds very fishy to me.所有这些在我听起来都很可疑。
There was definitely something fishy going on.肯定当时有可疑的事情在进行中。
相关单词:battered
battered解释:adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损
battered例句:
He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。
相关单词:buttress
buttress解释:n.支撑物;v.支持
buttress例句:
I don't think they have any buttress behind them.我认为他们背后没有什么支持力量。
It was decided to buttress the crumbling walls.人们决定建造扶壁以支撑崩塌中的墙。
相关单词:perfectly
perfectly解释:adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
perfectly例句:
The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
相关单词:ailments
ailments解释:疾病(尤指慢性病),不适( ailment的名词复数 )
ailments例句:
His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。
相关单词:confided
confided解释:v.吐露(秘密,心事等)( confide的过去式和过去分词 );(向某人)吐露(隐私、秘密等)
confided例句:
She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露,他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
相关单词:shuffling
shuffling解释:adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式
shuffling例句:
Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹