送給瑪麗的鮮花

By+Anonymous

I amin mylatefortiesand havetwoteenage daughters. My life has been difficult but， by the grace of God， I am a survivor.

My girls and I spent much of their childhood in shelters and living on the street. Although I am a hard worker， without a college education， the money just wasnt enough to support us. I figured I would give my girls a good education，evenifwehadtoliveonthestreet.

I managed to find a job as a waitress at a local coffee shop， and I enrolled my girls in a good public school. My job didnt pay enough for rent， so we moved from shelter to shelter.I wasnervousabouttheaddress， soI gotapostoffice boxandusedtheaddressfortheschoolpaperwork.

We had made a pact that we would not tell anyone we were homeless， because I was sure this fine school wouldnt allowmydaughtersremainiftheyknewaboutoursituation.

One day， several years later， one of the girls came back to the shelter and told me her friends mother Mary had invitedallthreeofusoverforsupperthenextevening.

Weknocked on the door of a beautiful two-story home. It was spotless and comfortable. We had a wonderful evening，andIknewIhadfoundafriend.

A few days later， Leticia， my youngest， came home and said that Mary had asked for our phone number. She wanted to call me to get together. Leticia told her we were having trouble with the phone， and she would have me call her. I hatedthatmygirlshadtolie.

I called Mary and again we got together at her house. She and I became good friends. I constantly told her that I wantedtohaveherovertoourplace，butthen I would lieand say we were having trouble with the landlord of our apartment building or that something wasnt working， like thestove，theairconditioning，etc.

Mary came into the coffee shop one day and asked if I could spend my break with her. We took a walk， and then she stopped at a vacant house a few blocks down the road. It hadaForRentsign outfrontand wasthemostadorablelittle home.

Mary said，“Do you like this place？”“Oh， very much！”Iexclaimed.“Butitswayoutofmyleague.”“Whydontwe call and find out？”Mary said. This upset me. I told her that themostIcouldaffordwas！350amonth.

Thenextday， Marycameintothecoffeeshop with a big grin on her faceand aFor Rentsign in her hands. She was so excited that she couldnt hold back the news.“I spoke with the owner of that house and guess what？ Theyre renting the house for $350 a month！ It couldnt be more perfect for you and the girls.”I told her，“Thats impossible. Houses rent for three times that much in this neighborhood.”She explained that the owners didnt really need the money. They just needed someone who would appreciate living thereandwouldtakespecialcareofit.endprint

A few weeks later， we moved in. We fixed the place up， and I even planted some flowers， which made me feel like I was planting my roots. I hoped to stay here a long time， raise mygirls，andalwayshaveaplaceforthemtocomehometo.

But secrets， Ive found， dont usually stay secrets. One month， I had mailed my rent check， but it was during the holidays， and I didnt want it to be late， so I decided to drop it off at the appropriate post office box. I was standing in line at the post office when I heard a familiar voice ask for a package from the box where I sent my rent. I peeked around thelineandwasshockedtoseeMary！

Shewasthumbingthroughhermailwhen I touched her arm. Tears were starting to form in my eyes， and I could barely speak.“Mary， is it your house were living in？ Did youdothisforus？”

Mary told me that Leticia had slipped and told her daughter we were homeless. She said it was her and her husbands first home. They had talked about it and wanted to rent the house to us. She hadnt wanted me to know becauseshewasafraidIwouldthinkitwascharity.

Mary is my Earth Angel， and I want her to know that I appreciateherkindnessandgenerosity，andthatIloveher.

I bring Mary fresh flowers every week from our garden.

我年近50，有兩個尚未成年的女兒。雖然日子過得很艱難，但是承蒙上帝的恩賜，我還是活了下來。

兩個女兒和我在臨時收容所和街頭度過了她們童年的大部分時光。雖然我工作很努力，但沒有受過高等教育，賺的錢不夠維持家用。我盤算著，即使不得不流浪街頭，我也要讓兩個女兒接受良好的教育。

我在本地一家咖啡館找到了一份服務員的工作，把兩個女兒送進了一所很好的公立小學。由于我的薪水還不夠租房用，因此不得不在收容所之間輾轉。然而，最令我頭痛的還是我們的家庭住址。因此，我在郵局租了一個信箱接收學校寄來的書面文件。

我和兩個女兒說好，無論如何都不能告訴任何人我們無家可歸。因為我清楚，像這樣的好學校，一旦知道了我們家的處境，就不會允許她們繼續留在那兒上學了。

幾年后的一天，我的一個女兒回到收容所后告訴我，她朋友的母親瑪麗邀請我們一家三口第二天晚上到家里去吃晚飯。

我們來到了一幢漂亮的兩層樓前，敲開了房門。屋內一塵不染，舒適溫馨。那天晚上，我們過得非常愉快，而且我知道我找到了一個朋友。

幾天之后，小女兒萊蒂西亞回來告訴我，瑪麗想要我們家的電話號碼。她想打電話給我相邀再聚。萊蒂西亞告訴瑪麗我們家的電話壞了，她會讓我打電話給她。女兒不得不撒謊，可我無可奈何。

我給瑪麗打了電話，我們再次來到她家聚會。于是，我們成了要好的朋友。我不斷對她說我想邀請她光臨寒舍，但是接下來我就會對她編造一些謊言，諸如我們跟房東有些小摩擦啦，或者我們家的爐灶、空調壞了。

一天，瑪麗來到了我工作的那家咖啡店，問我可否在休息時間和她聊聊。于是，我們一起散步。走過幾個街區之后，在一所閑置的房子前，她停了下來。這是一間十分惹人喜愛的小房子，房前貼著招租的廣告。

“你喜歡這所房子嗎？”瑪麗問道。“噢，非常喜歡！”我驚叫道，“不過，它可不是我們這種人能夠住得起的。”“我們為什么不打電話問一下呢？”瑪麗說。她的話觸到了我的痛處。我對瑪麗說我最多一個月只能出到350美元租金。

第二天，瑪麗笑容滿面地來到了咖啡店，手里拿著那張招租廣告。她興奮得不能自已地告訴我：“我已經和那所房子的主人談過了，你猜怎么著？他們同意每月只收350美元的租金！對于你和你的女兒來說，再也沒有什么比這更理想的了。”“這怎么可能？”我對她說，“這一帶房子租金是它的三倍啊！”瑪麗解釋說，其實房東不是真的需要錢，他們只是需要有人喜歡住在那里，好好照看房子。

幾個星期之后，我們搬進了那所房子。我們把房子收拾妥當，我甚至在院子里種植了一些花，這使我感到我仿佛要在這里扎下根來。我希望能在這里長久地住下去，好好撫養我的兩個女兒，讓她們也好有一個地方可以回。

但是我發現，秘密總有揭開面紗的一天。有一個月，我本來打算將我的租金支票寄給房東，但是由于正趕上假期，為了避免延期，我決定把支票直接投入房東的信箱。當我正在郵局排隊等候的時候，我突然聽到一個熟悉的聲音正對郵局的工作人員說要從一個信箱里取包裹，而那個信箱正是我要寄租金支票的信箱。我向隊伍四周望去，令我為之震驚的是，那人竟是瑪麗！

我碰了碰她的胳膊，她正在翻查她的郵件。倏然之間，淚水盈滿了我的雙眼，我幾乎說不出話來。“瑪麗，我們住的房子是你的嗎？是你為我們做了這一切？”

瑪麗對我說，是萊蒂西亞有一次不小心說漏了嘴，告訴她的女兒我們無家可歸。她還告訴我，那房子原來是她和她丈夫住過的第一個家。他們討論過想把房子租給我們居住。但是，她并不想讓我知道，因為她擔心我會認為她是施舍給我們住的。

瑪麗就是我的人間天使。我想讓她知道我非常感激她的仁慈和慷慨，我愛她。

每個星期，我都要從我們的花園里摘下鮮花送給瑪麗。endprint