愛，永不太遲

My aunt 1)died back in about 2003. She was eighty-four and so was my uncle. When she passed he was devastated. They had been married for over 60 years. We expected him to pass on quickly after she died. He attended his church more frequently and his mourning was nearly unbearable to witness. His only daughter lived 2)clear across the country so he had only the rest of the extended family and church family to comfort him.

My cousin talked him into selling the house that he and my aunt had built together about twenty-five years before. It was very hard to part with the home they built together. He was going to move into an apartment， but at the last moment， my cousin and he saw a new house for sale， that was close to his business. She helped him buy furniture and a 3)flat screen television. He had not watched television for years because of his religion. He was like a kid with a new toy but still grieved horribly for my aunt.

One day he called my cousin who was living in Texas and told her that he reconnected with a lady from a church that he and my aunt went to forty years previously. She played piano and his church was looking for new music. Her husband had died about seven years previously. He said he just wanted someone to go out to dinner with and spend time with. We were happy for them but had no idea how it would turn out. They were both almost eighty-seven years old.

They were like 4)lovebirds and spent as much time together as they could. They both had one child each， she a son， he a daughter. She had a house that her father built for her when she got married to her first husband. She was content there.

The other 5)fly in the ointment was that they were both very busy people. They both still worked! They were in their mid-eighties and both had their own family businesses. She worked for her son who took over the family business and he had his own business.

The 6)clash in their relationship came when they neither wanted to leave their respective churches. She went to her 7)Baptist church that she had attended for many years and he went to his， which was a 8)Pentecostal. They decided to remain friends but nothing more. He was broken-hearted， but felt that his religion was the only way. She didn’t want to leave her church and didn’t like the extreme of his.

Before too long they realized that they did not want to be apart. They would find a new church together. They planned to marry. When he took her to a jewelry store and bought her a diamond， the employees were so 9)impressed that they had a big write up in our own local paper， “‘The Truth’ for Valentines’ Day.” They prepared for their wedding. They moved the wedding date up because neither wanted to wait any longer to “be together，” and it was not 10)proper to “be together” without being married.

They got married in her house， where they decided they would live. It was such a beautiful 11)refreshing thing to see， two people who you would have thought had pretty much lived their lives， were beginning a new one together. I have never seen my uncle happier. He is still in love and she loves him as much as he loves her.

If you ever think that it is too late for you to find true love or your life is over， you should see more 12)relationships like theirs. They are both still working and they have been married now for almost two years. They are both going to be ninety in the next two months， and they love their life together. They still maintain their own home and go to church and out to eat with their family and friends. It is never too late to find true love， again， or for the first time!

我伯母大約在2003年去世。她已是84歲高齡，我伯父與她同齡。伯母的去世對伯父來說是個沉重的打擊。他們結婚超過60年了。伯母去世后，我們以為伯父很快也會跟著離開。伯父愈加頻繁地去教會，他的悲慟幾乎令人不忍目睹。他唯一的女兒一直住在離他很遠的另一個地方，因而他只能從家族的遠親以及教會同伴那里尋求慰藉。

我堂姐游說伯父賣掉那棟他和伯母大概在25年前一起建造的房子。要離開他倆一起建造的“家”，這對伯父而言非常艱難。他準備搬進一間公寓，不過就在最后一刻，我堂姐和他看中了一棟待售的新房，而且這房子離伯父的公司很近。堂姐幫伯父買來了家具和一臺平板電視機。由于他的宗教信仰，伯父已經很多年沒有看電視了。他如同一個拿到一件新玩具的孩子那樣開心，不過對于伯母的離去，他還是非常傷心。

有一天，伯父打電話給我那住在得克薩斯州的堂姐，告訴她說他和一位女士重新取得了聯系，而那位女士來自他和伯母40多年前常去的一間教堂。那位女士會彈鋼琴，而伯父所在的教會正要找新的音樂伴奏。那位女士的丈夫大約七年前去世了。伯父說，他只是想有個人一起出去吃飯，一起消磨時光。我們很為他們倆高興，卻不知道結果會如何。他們倆都將近87歲高齡。

他們倆如同一對恩愛夫妻一般，盡可能多地在一起共度時光。他們各自都有一個孩子，她有個兒子，而他有個女兒。她有棟房子，是她父親在她和第一任丈夫結婚時為她建的。……