成長之痛

繪◎盒子菌

掃我，朗讀給你聽

You might not get what you wish for, but you always get what you work for. I want to be a professional ballerina①ballerina 英 [b?l?'ri?n?] 美 [,b?l?'rin?] n. 芭蕾舞女演員with the American Ballet Theatre in New York when I grow up, and I work toward my dream by training over 18 hours a week. I even started homeschooling②homeschooling[,hom'skul??] n. 在家教育so I could make more time for dance.I love dancing more than anything. It makes me feel strong and invincible③invincible 英 [?n'v?ns?b(?)l] 美 [?n'v?ns?bl]adj. 無敵的；不能征服的, like nothing could ever bother me. Most important,it helped me deal with the most difficult event of my life—the death of my dad when I was seven.

My dad died of a heart attack while playing hockey, his favorite sport. When my mom first told me, it didn't hit me that I would never be able to see him again. He'd always danced with me; I even used to make him do stretches beforehand. It was also hard to tell my friends and classmates because I didn't know what to say, and they never knew how to respond. But four years later,everything that I do, I do in memory of my dad. I dedicated④dedicate 英 ['ded?ke?t] 美 ['d?d?ket] vt. 致力；獻身；題獻my first dance solo, "The Love Lives On," to him when I was nine.

I would have never gotten through the experience without my mom. She comforted me when I was in grief and pain, and we wrote down all the memories I had with my dad in a special book. Now that I'm older, my mom and I do get on each other's nerves more often—for a while, my schedule was very busy and we were so stressed that our little miscommunications would rise into huge arguments. But after we attended counseling and I started homeschooling, things got much better, and now my mom and I have more quality time to spend together.

僅有愿望，你也許會求而不得，但只要付出努力，你定能心想事成。我想長大后成為一名專業(yè)舞蹈演員，去紐約的美國芭蕾舞劇院工作。為了這一夢想，我每周訓練超過18小時。我甚至開始在家自學，以贏得更多時間去跳舞。舞蹈是我的至愛，它使我內(nèi)心強大，所向披靡，就像任何事都難不倒我。最重要的是，它幫我挺過了生命中最艱難的時刻——父親在我7歲時撒手西去。

父親死于心臟病突發(fā)，當時他正在打曲棍球，那是他的至愛。當媽媽告訴我這一噩耗時，我還不懂得這意味著再也不能見到父親了。他一直陪我練舞，我總讓他幫我舞前熱身。告訴朋友和同學這一消息極為艱難，因為我不知道如何開口，他們也不知道說什么好。現(xiàn)在，4年過去了，我所做的一切都是為了紀念父親。9歲時我把第一個單人舞獻給父親，名字就叫“愛生生不息”。

如果沒有媽媽的陪伴，我也許永遠也無法走出困境。在傷心悲痛的時刻，是媽媽在勸慰我。我們用一個特別的筆記本，記下我與父親一起度過的點點滴滴。隨著年齡的增長，我和媽媽彼此看不順眼的時候也在增多——有時，我的計劃排得太滿，倍感壓力，以至于我們之間小小的交流不暢就會演變成大的爭執(zhí)。后來我們進行了心理輔導，我也開始在家自學，情況才慢慢好轉(zhuǎn)。現(xiàn)在，我們母女倆一起有更多溫馨的時光了。

這一切讓我明白，在任何關系構建中，談話與交流是多么重要啊！沒錯，友誼也不例外。當我和朋友外出時，我盡力不去看手機。試想你跟某個人對坐桌旁，她一直在發(fā)短信而不是同你說話，那該多么尷尬啊！我覺得，做個好朋友就意味著心地善良，尊重對方，公平公正，幽默風趣——而我則力圖把這些品質(zhì)親身表現(xiàn)出來，而不僅僅是在電話中！

I've learned that talking and communicating are very important things to do in any relationship,and that definitely includes friendships too! When I hang out with my friends, I try not to look at my phone. It's so awkward when you're sitting at a table with someone else, and she's texting instead of talking to you. I think a good friend is kind, respectful, fair, and funny—and I'll always strive⑤strive 英 [stra?v] 美 [stra?v] vi. 努力；奮斗；抗爭to be all of these things in person, not just on the phone!