After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my mother, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.

在21年的婚姻后，我的妻子希望我带另一个女人出去吃饭和看电影。我妻子希望我拜访的另外一个女人是我的母亲，她守了19年的寡，但我的工作需求和三个孩子令我只能偶尔去拜访她一下。

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel’s.

那个下周五下班后，我开车去接她，我有点紧张。她穿着外套等在门内。她卷了头发，穿着她穿去庆祝最后一次结婚纪念日的裙子。她像天使一样容光焕发地微笑着。

After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entrees, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,”she said.

我们坐下来后，我开始读菜单。她的眼睛只能看放大的字体。主菜吃到一半的时候，我抬头看见母亲坐在那儿看着我。她的嘴边有一丝怀旧的笑容。“在你小的时候，曾经读菜单的那个人是我，”她说。

During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation –nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the movie.

在晚饭期间，我们达成共识——不聊什么特别的，只追随彼此生活的近况。我们聊了如此之多，以至于我们错过了电影。

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her.

几天后，我的母亲由于一场严重的心脏病发作离开了人世。事情发生得如此突然，以致于我没有机会再为她做任何事。

Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates – one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.”

过了一段时间，我收到了一封含有我和母亲吃的同一家餐厅的收据复件的信件。附着的纸条写道：“我提前把单买了。我不确定我是否能出现。但尽管如此，我付了两人份——一份给你，另一份给你的妻子。你永远不会知道那晚对我意味着什么。我爱你，儿子。”