難忘的圣誕節(jié)

圣誕節(jié)到了，你是否正為準(zhǔn)備禮物而發(fā)愁呢？物輕情義重，只要有心意，哪怕是一句問候也是一份很好的禮物。謹(jǐn)以此文為禮，附上Rico滿滿的愛意和祝福——圣誕節(jié)快樂哦！^_^

He 1)toddled around the corner and into the living room， where he stopped cold. His little mouth dropped open， and the light in Ryan’s eyes 2)rivaled the glow of the lights on the Christmas tree. What he saw there were two big shiny Tonka注1 toys， a tractor and a fire truck with a ladder. There were other packages， too， mostly from his grandparents and one or two small ones from me. But those would have to wait. He only had eyes for those trucks.

I looked at Mike and said， “Those are for you， Ry.”

That was all the encouragement he needed. He ran to the fire truck， climbed on， and rode three 3)laps around the living room on top of the truck. Then he 4)hopped off and lay down on his belly， pushing the tractor and making engine noises.

Before long， Ryan had both Tonkas upside down， examining every inch. Ryan wanted to know every detail of every toy he had. If the Tonkas hadn’t been 5)welded， he would’ve surely taken them apart to have a better look.

But there was something unusual about those Tonkas that Ryan didn’t notice. Tonka is famous for using standard colors on its toys， mostly school bus yellow. Ryan’s tractor was navy blue， and his fire truck was wine-colored with a silver ladder. These weren’t the Tonkas you buy in the store now. They were the good old hard metal ones no longer produced. For weeks， Mike had sat in his lonely little trailer in the evenings， cleaning， repairing， and sanding those trucks to make them good as new. Then he had painted them. Now he was getting the payoff for his labor of love. Ryan was in kid heaven.

It had been a hard year for Mike， Ryan， and me. Only a few months earlier， Mike and I divorced. The breakup left both of us financially 6)drained. I felt 7)dismal after Thanksgiving， when I realized that Christmas was coming soon and I had no money. I could manage to get a small tree and maybe after that， if I really 8)squeezed， I could come up with five dollars to buy Ryan a few Hot Wheels. That was it. But compared to Mike， I was practically 9)rolling in the dough. Of course， he would spend Christmas Day with us and share our tree. But I knew that he would be hard-pressed to have even one

extra dollar to buy Ryan anything at all.

It was depressing at best. I wanted so much to make a wonderful Christmas for Ryan. Not that he needed the toys， and not that gifts are the heart of Christmas. Ryan would be surrounded by love and celebration and the recognition of the true meaning of Christmas with or without presents. But I’d waited a long time to have a child. And I was anxious to experience the joy that parents feel when they put things under the tree that they know will delight their children.

One afternoon in early December I was on my way home when I heard a man on the radio say that he had a yard full of old Tonka trucks that he was selling for two to three dollars each. They needed some 10)TLC， but they were 11)sturdy and fixable. Ryan had played with Tonkas at a friend’s house and 12)adored them. It was the perfect gift for him， and I knew the perfect guy to do the fixing up.

I was so excited， I didn’t even stop to call Mike and ask what he thought. He was still at work， anyway. I went straight to the address the man on the radio had given. I 13)scoured the yard looking for the best of the 14)bunch. Some of them had rubber parts that were broken， and I wasn’t sure how those could be fixed. Finally， I found two that were well worn but still had all their parts 15)intact. I paid the guy four dollars and fifty cents， almost my total 16)allotment for Christmas. He loaded the metal trucks into the 17)trunk of my car， and I drove to the auto body and paint shop where Mike worked.

Just as he was getting ready to leave， I told him my idea: we could give Ryan a joint present. I bought the trucks， and he could fix them up like new. I was sure Mike had 18)sandpaper and tools， though I wasn’t sure about paint. When I opened the trunk and showed him the trucks， he caught my 19)enthusiasm – partly because he would have a great gift for Ryan， one that took Mike back to his own childhood and boyish delights， and partly because he would have a cool project to fill his lonely evenings. I expected him to be interested. But he was more than that. He was 20)thrilled.

When Mike’s boss heard about the idea， he happily claimed， “Real metal…h(huán)ow about that! Tell you what， Mike， feel free to use any tools or sandpaper in the shop. You can even take some home this weekend. And when you’re ready to paint， you can use whatever we have leftover from 21)spray jobs. Ryan’s gonna love these.”

He was right. Ryan loved them at age two and a half， and he loves them now， at eighteen. He still has those two Tonkas. When he was old enough to understand， I explained to him how his dad had spent hours upon hours turning old trucks into new ones， just for him. Ryan no longer plays with his trucks， and his dad is gone. But he can pick them up at any time， look them over， and run his hands over their smooth surfaces. Someday， he might pass them on to his own children. For now， they serve as solid-metal proof that he was the target of a whole lot of love.

他蹣跚著轉(zhuǎn)過角落，拐進(jìn)起居室，突然停了下來。萊恩的小嘴大張著，眼中的光芒堪比圣誕樹上的彩燈，閃亮奪目。他的面前有兩個(gè)碩大的東卡玩具，發(fā)出嶄新的光澤：一輛拖拉機(jī)和一輛帶梯子的消防車。另外還有一些禮物，大都是他的祖父母送的，其中一兩件小禮物是我送的。不過這些禮物都得先讓位了。現(xiàn)在萊恩的眼里只有這些車子。

我看了看邁克，說：“這些是給你的，萊。”

萊恩就等著這句話。他飛奔上前爬上消防車，坐在車上繞著起居室開了三圈。然后他跳下車，趴在地上，一邊推拖拉機(jī)，一邊模仿著發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)的聲音。

沒過多久，萊恩就把兩輛車翻過來，開始仔細(xì)觀察每一個(gè)部分。萊恩對(duì)自己每一個(gè)玩具的每一個(gè)地方都很好奇。如果這車不是焊接起來的，他肯定會(huì)拆開來好好看看。

然而，萊恩沒有注意到的是，這兩個(gè)東卡玩具有些不尋常的地方。東卡的玩具總是使用標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的顏色，大都是校車那樣的黃色。萊恩的拖拉機(jī)卻是海軍藍(lán)色的，消防車是酒紅色的，而梯子則是銀色的。如今，這樣的東卡玩具在商店已經(jīng)買不到了。它們是以前那種質(zhì)量很好、用硬金屬做的玩具，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)停產(chǎn)了。好幾個(gè)星期的晚上，邁克都是一個(gè)人坐在他的小拖車?yán)铮o這些車進(jìn)行清洗、修理和打磨，把它們翻新，然后上漆。……