I said，’Dad， I‘m too old for a goodbye kiss. I’m too old for any kind of kiss.‘My dad looked at me for the longest time， and his eyes started to tear up. I had never seen him cry. He turned and looked out the windshield. ’You are right.‘he said，’You are a big boy- a man. I won‘t kiss you any more.’”
Frank got a funny look on his face， and the tears began to well up in his eyes， as he spoke，“It wasn‘t long after that when my dad went to sea and never came back. It was a day when most of the fleet stayed in， but not my dad. He had a big family to feed. They found his boat adrift with its nets half in and half out. He must have gotten into a gale and was trying to save the nets and the floats.”
I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank spoke again，“Guys， you don’t know what I would give to have my dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek... to feel his rough old face... to smell the ocean on him... to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a man， I would never have told my dad I was too old for a goodbye kiss.”
再回首的时候，父亲已经远去，所以请珍惜父亲那个吻。
参考翻译（佚名）
董事会已接近尾声，鲍勃站起来时不小心碰到了桌角，他的咖啡溅出来洒在笔记本上。“真不好意思，人老了，手脚也越来越笨了。”
每个人都笑了起来。然后，我们开始说起各自最尴尬的时刻。弗兰克一直静静地听着，轮到他时，有人说道：“说吧，弗兰克，给我们讲讲你最尴尬的时候。”
弗兰克开始笑着讲起了他的童年。“我是在圣彼得罗长大的，爸爸是个渔民，他很喜欢大海。虽然有自己的渔船，但仅靠捕鱼来维持生计是非常艰辛的。他拼命工作，每次出海，都要捕到足够养活家人的鱼才回来。他不仅要养活我们一家，还要养活祖父母和家里的其他人。”
他看着我们说：“我真希望你们能见到我父亲，他高大魁伟，拉网、与海浪作斗争使他的身体格外强壮。你一走近他，就能闻到海的味道。他总穿旧帆布衣服，脏兮兮的外套，还有围兜，他的雨帽压低遮着眉毛。不论母亲怎么擦洗，这一切还是有一股海水味和鱼腥味。”
弗兰克的声音略微小了些：“天气很糟时，他就会开车送我去学校。那是他卖鱼时开的旧卡车，这车甚至比他还老，行驶在路上还会发出咔嗒咔嗒的响声，隔着几个街区都听得到。他每次送我去学校时，我都蜷缩在车座里，甚至希望自己能立刻消失，不让别人看到我。
“他通常都会砰的一声把车门关上，老卡车便随之冒出一股黑烟。他把车停在校门正前方，周围每个人好像都站在那里看着我们。然后，他会弯下腰来，用力地在我脸颊上亲一下，叮嘱我要做个好男孩。这很令我难堪。那时我已经12岁了，而父亲还要在告别的时候弯下腰来亲我！”
他顿了顿，又继续说道：“记得那天，我决定不再让父亲吻别了，因为我已经长大了。当我们到达学校后，停下车来，父亲一如既往地带着灿烂的笑容。他正准备弯下腰时，我举起了手，说：‘爸爸，不要。’”
“那是我第一次那样跟他说话，他的脸上写满了惊讶。”
“我说：‘爸爸，我已经长大了，告别时别再亲我了。无论何时都不要亲我了。’”
“父亲盯了我好久，眼睛湿润了。我从未见他哭过。他转过身去，看着挡风玻璃。‘你说得对。’他说，‘你已经长大了，是个男子汉了，我以后不会再亲你了。’”
弗兰克脸上的表情开始变得有些奇怪，接着，眼泪流了下来。“不久后，父亲出海捕鱼，再也没回来。那天，大多数渔船都没出海，但父亲去了，他还有一大家子要养活。后来，他们发现父亲的渔船漂在海上，渔网一半在船上，一半在水里。他一定遇到了飓风，为了保护渔网和救生圈失去了性命。”
我看着弗兰克，泪水正缓缓地从他的脸颊滑落。他又说道：“朋友们，你们知道吗，我非常希望父亲能再亲一下我的脸……好让我再次感受他那饱经风霜的苍老的脸……闻一下他身上大海的味道……重温他双手绕过我脖子的感觉。我多么希望当时自己真的是个男子汉，如果那样，我就不会告诉父亲，自己已经长大，不再需要他离别的吻了。”
A Letter to a Son： When I‘m Getting Old...
给儿子的一封信：当我日渐老去……
Anonymous
Dear son，
The day that you see me old and I am already not， have patience and try to understand me...
If I get dirty when eating... if I can not dress... have patience. Remember the hours I spent teaching it to you.
If， when I speak to you， I repeat the same things thousand and one times... do not interrupt me... listen to me.
When you were small， I had to read to you thousand and one times the same story until you get to sleep...
When I do not want to have a shower， neither shame me nor scoldme...
Remember when I had to chase you with thousand excuses Iinvented， in order that you wanted to bath...
When you see my ignorance on new technologies... give me the necessary time and not look at me with your mocking smile...
I taught you how to do so many things... to eat good， to dress well... to confront life...
When at some moment I lose the memory or the thread of our conversation... let me have the necessary time to remember... and if I cannot do it， do not become nervous... as the most important thing is not my conversation but surely to be with you and to have you listening to me...
If ever I do not want to eat， do not force me. I know well when I need to and when not.
When my tired legs do not allow me walk... give me your hand... the same way I did when you gave your first steps.
And when someday I say to you that I do not want to live any more... that I want to die... do not get angry... some day you will understand...
Try to understand that my age is not lived but survived.
Some day you will discover that， despite my mistakes， I always wanted the best thing for you and that I tried to prepare the way for you...
You must not feel sad， angry or impotent for seeing me near you. You must be next to me， try to understand me and to help me as I did it when you started living.
Help me to walk... help me to end my way with love and patience. I will pay you by a smile and by the immense love I have had always for you.
I love you son... Your father
终有一天，我们也会老去。在仅有的时日里，请给父母多些关爱和理解。
参考翻译（佚名）
孩子：
如果你看到我日渐老去，身体渐渐衰竭，请试着耐心地理解我……如果我吃饭时搞得一塌糊涂……如果我不能自己穿衣服……请多一些耐心。
你还记得我曾花了多长时间教会你这些事儿吗？如果我一千零一遍地讲述同样的故事……请不要打断我，认真听我说。
在你小的时候，我必须讲述一千零一遍同样的故事，直到你静静入睡……当我不想洗澡时，不要羞辱和责骂我……记得小时候我曾编出多少理由，只是为了哄你洗澡……当你看到我对新科技的无知，请给我一点儿时间，不要带着嘲弄的微笑看我……我曾教了你多少事情啊……如何好好地吃饭，美美地穿衣……以及如何面对你的生活……如果交谈中我忽然忘记话题，请给我一点儿时间回想……如果我还是无能为力，请不要紧张……对我而言重要的不是对话，而是能跟你在一起，你在耐心倾听……当我不想吃东西时，不要勉强我，我很清楚应该什么时候进食……当我的腿不听使唤时，扶我一把，如同我曾扶着你踏出你人生的第一步那样……当有一天我告诉你不想再活下去了……请不要生气……总有一天你会理解的……试着理解我已是风烛残年，来日可数。有一天你会发现，即使我有许多过错，我总是尽我所能给你最好的，为你铺垫道路。当我靠近你时不要觉得感伤、生气或无奈，你要紧挨着我，如同我当初帮你展开人生一样，理解我，帮助我……搀扶我一把，用爱心与耐心帮我走完人生，我将用微笑和我始终不变的无边无际的爱来回报你。我爱你，孩子……你的父亲Mystery of the White Gardenia 洁白的栀子花AnonymousEvery year on my birthday， from the time I turned 12， a white gardenia was delivered to my house in Bethesda， Md. No card or note came with it. Calls to the florist were always in vain- it was a cash purchase. After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender’s identity and just delighted in the beauty and heady perfume of that one magical， perfect white flower nestled in soft pink tissue paper.
But I never stopped imagining who the anonymous giver might be. Some of my happiest moments were spent daydreaming about someone wonderful and exciting but too shy or eccentrics to make known his or her identity.
My mother contributed to these imaginings. She‘d ask me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness who might be showing appreciation. Perhaps the neighbor I’d help when she was unloading a car full of groceries. Or maybe it was the old man acrossthe street whose mail I retrieved during the winter so he wouldn‘t have to venture down his icy steps. As a teenager， though， I had more fun speculating that it might be a boy I had a crush on or one who had noticed me even though I didn’t know him.
