為你驕傲

By+Anonymous

F orty-three years seems like a long time to remember the name of a mere acquaintance. I have forgottenthenameofanoldlady， whowasacustomer on the paper route in my hometown when I was twelve. Yet it dwells in my memory that she taught mealessoninforgivenessthatIshallneverforget.

On a winter afternoon， a friend and I were throwing stones onto the roof of the old ladys house. The object was to observe how the stones changed to missiles as they rolled to the roofs edge and shot out into the yard like comets falling from the sky. I found myself a smooth rock and threw it out. It slipped from my hand as I let it go and headed straight for a window on theold ladys back porch. At the sound of fracturedglass，weturnedtailandran.

I was too scared about getting caught that first night to be concerned about the old lady with the broken window in winter. However， a few days later， when I was sure that I hadnt been discovered， I started tofeelguilty. She still greeted me with a smile each day when I gave her the paper， but I was no longerabletoactcomfortableinherpresence.

I decided that I would save my paper delivery money， and in three weeks I had seven dollars. I put the money in an envelope with a note explaining that I was sorry for breaking her window and hoped that thesevendollarswouldcoverthecostforrepairingit.

I waited until it was dark， snuck up to the old ladys house， and put the letter I didnt sign through theletterslotinherdoor.Mysoulfeltredeemed.

The next day， I handed the old lady her paper and was able to return her warm smile. She thanked me for the paper and gave me a bag of cookies she had madeherself. I thanked her and proceeded to eat thecookiesasIcontinuedmyroute.

After severalcookies， I feltan envelope. When I openedit，Iwasstunned.Insidewerethesevendollars andashortnotethatsaid，“Improudofyou.”

記住一個僅僅是認識的人的名字，43年似乎是段很長的時間。我已經忘了那位老太太的名字，她是我12歲那年在家鄉送報時的一位客戶。不過，她曾給我上的那堂關于“寬恕”的課卻始終讓我難以忘懷。

一個冬天的下午，我和一個朋友往這個老太太家的屋頂上扔石子玩。我們的目的是觀察這些石子如何順著屋頂的斜坡變成一顆飛彈，在滾落到屋頂邊緣的瞬間，像滑過天空的彗星那樣射入院中。我給自己找了顆光滑的石子，然后扔了出去。出手的一剎那，它偏離了方向，直接擊中了老太太屋后門廊上的一扇窗戶。聽到玻璃破碎的聲音，我們掉頭拔腿就跑。

當天晚上，我太害怕被抓住，沒有考慮到冬天里的破玻璃窗會給老太太帶來什么樣的麻煩。但是，過了幾天，當確信自己沒被發現時，我就開始感到內疚了。每天我給她送報紙時，她依舊笑瞇瞇地迎接我。不過，在她面前，我已經不像過去那樣自在了。

我下定決心要把送報掙的錢都攢起來。三個星期后，我便有了七美元。我把錢裝進一個信封，并附上一張紙條，解釋說我對打破她家的窗戶感到非常抱歉，希望這七美元足夠賠付修窗戶的錢。

我一直等到天黑，才悄悄走到老太太家，把這封沒有署名的信從她門上的投信口投進了她家。做完這件事后，我感到自己的靈魂好像得到了解脫。

第二天，當老太太微笑著從我手上接過報紙時，我也能向她回報一個熱情的微笑了。她對我的送報工作表示感謝，送了我一袋她親手做的餅干。謝過她后，我一邊吃著餅干，一邊繼續去給別的客戶送報紙。

吃完了幾塊餅干之后，我摸到了一個信封。當我打開信封的時候，我不禁怔住了。信封里面有七美元和一張小紙條，上面這么寫道：“我為你感到驕傲。”endprint