The family had just moved to Rhode Island, and the young woman was feeling a little melancholy（忧郁，悲哀） on that Sunday in May. After all, it was Mother's Day -- and 800 miles separated her from her parents in Ohio.
She had called her mother that morning to wish her a happy Mother's Day, and her mother had mentioned how colorful the yard was now that spring had arrived. As they talked, the younger woman could almost smell the tantalizing（撩人的） aroma of purple lilacs（紫丁香） hanging on the big bush outside her parents' back door.
Later, when she mentioned to her husband how she missed those lilacs, he popped up from his chair. "I know where we can find you all you want," he said. "Get the kids and c'mon."
So off they went, driving the country roads of northern Rhode Island on the kind of day only mid -- May can produce: sparkling sunshine, unclouded azure skies and vibrant newness of the green growing all around. They went past small villages and burgeoning housing developments, past abandoned apple orchards, back to where trees and brush have devoured old homesteads.
Where they stopped，dense thickets of cedars and ju nipers and birch crowded the roadway on both sides. There wasn't a lilac bush in sight.
"Come with me," the man said. "Over that hill is an old cellar hole，from somebody's farm of years ago, and there are lilacs all round it. The man who owns this land said I could poke around here anytime. I'm sure he won't mind if we pick a few lilacs."
Before they got halfway up the hill, the fragrance of the lilacs drifted down to them, and the kids started running. Soon, the mother began running, too, until she reached the top.
There，far from view of passing motorists and hidden from encroaching civilization, were the towering lilacs bushes, so laden with the huge, cone-shaped flower clusters that they almost bent double. With a smile, the young woman rushed up to the nearest bush and buried her face in the flowers, drinking in the fragrance（香味） and the memories it recalled.
While the man examined the cellar hole and tried to explain to the children what the house must have looked like, the woman drifted among the lilacs. Carefully, she chose a sprig here, another one there, and clipped them with her husband's pocket knife. She was in no hurry, relishing each blossom as a rare and delicate treasure.
Finally, though, they returned to their car for the trip home. While the kids chattered and the man drove, the woman sat smiling, surrounded by her flowers, a faraway look in her eyes.
When they were within three miles of home, she suddenly shouted to her husband, "Stop the car. Stop right here!"
The man slammed on the brakes. Before he could ask her why she wanted to stop, the woman was out of the car and hurrying up a nearby grassy slope with the lilacs still in her arms. At the top of the hill was a nursing home and, because it was such a beautiful spring day, the patients were outdoors strolling with relatives or sitting on the porch.
The young woman went to the end of the porch, where an elderly patient was sitting in her wheelchair, alone, head bowed, her back to most of the others. Across the porch railing went the flowers, in to the lap of the old woman. She lifted her head, and smiled. For a few moments, the two women chatted, both aglow with happiness, and then the young woman turned and ran back to her family. As the car pulled away, the woman in the wheelchair waved, and clutched the lilacs.
"Mom," the kids asked, "who was that? Why did you give her our flowers? Is she somebody's mother?" The mother said she didn't know the old woman. But it was Mother's Day，and she seemed so alone，and who wouldn't be cheered by flowers? "Besides," she added，"I have all of you, and I still have my mother, even if she is far away. That woman needed those flowers more than I did."
This satisfied the kids, but not the husband. The next day he purchased half a dozen young lilacs bushes and planted them around their yard, and several times since then he has added more.
I was that man. The young mother was, and is, my wife. Now, every May, our own yard is redolent with lilacs. Every Mother's Day our kids gather purple bouquets. And every year I remember that smile on a lonely old woman's face, and the kindness that put the smile there.
相关单词：melancholy
melancholy解释：n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的
melancholy例句：
All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。
相关单词：tantalizing
tantalizing解释：adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )
tantalizing例句：
This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
相关单词：aroma
aroma解释：n.香气，芬芳，芳香
aroma例句：
The whole house was filled with the aroma of coffee.满屋子都是咖啡的香味。
The air was heavy with the aroma of the paddy fields.稻花飘香。
相关单词：mid
mid解释：adj.中央的，中间的
mid例句：
Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。
相关单词：azure
azure解释：adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的
azure例句：
His eyes are azure.他的眼睛是天蓝色的。
The sun shone out of a clear azure sky.清朗蔚蓝的天空中阳光明媚。
相关单词：vibrant
vibrant解释：adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的
vibrant例句：
He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。
相关单词：burgeoning
burgeoning解释：adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）
burgeoning例句：
Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句
相关单词：orchards
orchards解释：（通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 )
orchards例句：
They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园，把平地变成了粮仓。
Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。
相关单词：devoured
devoured解释：吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光
devoured例句：
She devoured everything she could lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers. 无论是书、杂志，还是报纸，只要能弄得到，她都看得津津有味。
The lions devoured a zebra in a short time. 狮子一会儿就吃掉了一匹斑马。
相关单词：thickets
thickets解释：n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物
thickets例句：
Small trees became thinly scattered among less dense thickets. 小树稀稀朗朗地立在树林里。 来自辞典例句
The entire surface is covered with dense thickets. 所有的地面盖满了密密层层的灌木丛。 来自辞典例句
相关单词：cedars
cedars解释：雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 )
cedars例句：
The old cedars were badly damaged in the storm. 风暴严重损害了古老的雪松。
Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 1黎巴嫩哪，开开你的门，任火烧灭你的香柏树。
相关单词：poke
poke解释：n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢
poke例句：
We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。
相关单词：halfway
halfway解释：adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途
halfway例句：
We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。
相关单词：fragrance
fragrance解释：n.芬芳，香味，香气
fragrance例句：
The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。
相关单词：laden
laden解释：adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的
laden例句：
He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。
相关单词：bent
bent解释：n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的
bent例句：
He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
相关单词：relishing
relishing解释：v.欣赏( relish的现在分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望
relishing例句：
He ate quietly, relishing his meal. 他安静地吃着，细细品味着食物。 来自辞典例句
Yes, an iron rampart," he repeated, relishing his phrase. 是的，就是铜墙铁壁，"他很欣赏自己用的这个字眼，又重复了一遍。 来自飘（部分）
相关单词：chattered
chattered解释：（人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤
chattered例句：
They chattered away happily for a while. 他们高兴地闲扯了一会儿。
We chattered like two teenagers. 我们聊着天，像两个十多岁的孩子。
相关单词：grassy
grassy解释：adj.盖满草的；长满草的
grassy例句：
They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。
相关单词：aglow
aglow解释：adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地
aglow例句：
The garden is aglow with many flowers.园中百花盛开。
The sky was aglow with the setting sun.天空因夕阳映照而发红光。
相关单词：bouquets
bouquets解释：n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 )；（酒的）芳香
bouquets例句：
The welcoming crowd waved their bouquets. 欢迎的群众摇动着花束。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
As the hero stepped off the platform, he was surrounded by several children with bouquets. 当英雄走下讲台时，已被几名手持花束的儿童围住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
