爸爸的紅毛衣

By+Lynn+R.Hartz

Many years ago， my mother gave my father a red V！ neck sweater for Christmas. He looked so handsome in it with his black hair and dark brown eyes. I was the oldest child and used to ask to borrow his red sweater. It looked good with my black"and#gray skirt. Daddy never said no. Mom used to wear it sometimes， too， especially in the middleofthewinter.

As my sisters and brothers grew up， the sweater became one of their favorite things to borrow as well. Eventually， Daddys red sweater settled in the hands of myyoungest brother， Andy. He took it to college and kept it. As all five of us kids went about the business of our adult lives， the red sweater became a memory of our youth， a source of laughter and story swapped at family gatherings.

The Christmas of 1989， with Daddy increasingly beingincapacitated due to a series of strokes， Andy had a dilemma： what do you give a homebound senior citizen who chooses to live modestly？ The answer came like a revelation. On that Christmas morning， packaged neatly in the finest holiday wrappings， Daddy received his red sweater as a Christmas present for the second time—twenty$one years after hed first received it from our mother.

When Daddy died in August 1991， my stepmother asked if there was anything of his I wanted.“Oh， yes. Please may I have Daddys red sweater？”I could not bear to think of losing that family treasure. It was given to megraciously. I knew that I could not be selfish and keep the sweater all for myself. Frankly， I wondered whether it might have meant more to me than to the rest of my brothersandsisters.

That year as a gift for my sister， Joey， I put the sweater in a Christmas box with a tag on it that said，“A gift to Joey from Daddy.”Inside the box was a card with a message to keep it for a year， and then pass it on the next year to the next in birth order， Ray. Ray passed it on to Jean，andthenJeanpasseditontoAndy.

As the holiday crept nearer， Joey and I discussed whatweweregoingtodofor Christmas. Ofcourse， thered sweater was the topic of conversation.“I wonder why we never bought our own red sweaters，”I said. Both of our eyes lit up like cartoon characters with light bulbs over their heads.“Red sweaters for Christmas！”we said in unison. Then， she said，“We never bought our own because we never needed one. We could always borrow Daddys.”We needed six identical red sweaters. It took several trips， but I had six identical red sweaters. I was so excited that I could hardly wait for the six of us to get together and for the others to opentheirsweaters.

Joey gave Ray the box that Daddys sweater was in. He opened it and said，“I just might have to wear this sometime this year.”“I dont think so，”Joey handed out the packages to everyonetoopen.Jean started to cry. Andy laughed with joy. Ray chuckled and said，“I was just wondering if I could find sixredsweatersforeveryonefornextyear！”

Mom said，“You got me one， too！”“Well， Mom， you have to have one， as you started it，”one of us reminded her.

The new red sweaters that each of us now owns have alreadybeen shared with others. Rayswife has worn his； Joeys boyfriend has worn hers. My daughters want to knowwhentheygettoshareDadssweater.

My father has been gone for ten years now， but his love and memory join us together each year at Christmas. Daddys red sweater has become a living symbol of a hard！working， generous father who taught us the joy of sharingandfamily.

許多年前，母親送給父親一件V領紅色毛衣作為圣誕禮物。父親有著一頭烏黑的頭發和一雙深棕色的眼睛，穿上那件毛衣顯得格外帥氣。我是家里最大的孩子，經常會借父親的紅毛衣穿。它跟我的黑灰色裙子搭配起來十分好看，而且父親從來不會拒絕我的請求。母親過去有時也會穿，尤其是在深冬時節。

隨著弟弟妹妹們逐漸長大，這件毛衣也成了他們最喜歡借用的物件。最后，爸爸的那件紅毛衣傳到了最小的弟弟———安迪手里。他把毛衣帶到大學里，并將它收藏起來。隨著我們兄弟姐妹五人都長大成人，忙于日常瑣事，那件紅毛衣就成了我們對青春的記憶、家庭聚會時的笑料和談資。

1989年的圣誕節，由于多次中風，父親逐漸喪失了行動能力，安迪提出了一個難題：像父親這樣為人低調，又出門不便的老人，你能為他準備什么禮物呢？我們找到了答案，就像得到了上帝的啟迪一樣。那個圣誕節的早上，我們用最好看的節日包裝紙把紅色毛衣利落地包了起來。就這樣，父親再次收到了紅色毛衣的圣誕禮物，距離他第一次收到母親送給他的紅毛衣已經21年了。

1991年8月，父親去世了。當時繼母問我是否有父親的東西想留著。“哦，有。可以把父親的紅毛衣給我嗎？”想到要失去我們的“傳家寶”，我就難過。繼母體恤地將紅毛衣給了我。我知道自己不能太自私，將毛衣占為己有。老實講，我想搞清楚，相比其他兄弟姐妹，這件毛衣對我來說是否更有意義。

那一年圣誕節，我把毛衣裝進了禮盒，將它作為圣誕禮物送給了妹妹喬伊，盒子上附了個標簽，上面寫著：“父親送給喬伊的禮物。”我還在禮盒內留了一張卡片，寫著讓喬伊把毛衣珍藏一年，然后按照我們的出生順序，在下一年圣誕節傳給雷。雷把它傳給瓊，瓊再傳給安迪。

隨著圣誕節的漸漸臨近，喬伊和我一起討論我們圣誕節該做些什么。當然，紅毛衣是我們談論的焦點。“我想知道，為什么我們自己從來不買紅色毛衣。”我說。我們兩個人的眼睛都閃爍著興奮的光芒，就像卡通人物頭上閃爍著燈泡一樣。“這個圣誕節買紅色毛衣吧！”我們齊聲說道。接著，喬伊說：“我們自己從來不買，因為我們從來都不需要買。我們以前總是可以借父親的毛衣穿。”我們需要買六件一模一樣的紅色毛衣。走了好幾家商店，我最終買到了六件一模一樣的紅色毛衣。我非常興奮，迫不及待地想看到我們六個聚在一起，然后看著他們打開各自的毛衣包裝。

喬伊把裝有父親毛衣的盒子給了雷。他打開盒子說：“我今年剛好要穿這件毛衣呢。”“我覺得不需要了。”喬伊把包裝袋遞給他們幾個，讓他們打開。瓊哭了起來，安迪開心地笑了起來。雷輕聲笑著說：“我正想著明年能不能給我們六個都買一件紅色毛衣呢！”

母親說：“你們給我也買了一件！”“是的，母親，你必須得有一件，因為送紅色毛衣是從你開始的。”我們其中一個提醒她。

我們每個人現在的新紅毛衣都跟其他人分享過。雷的妻子穿過他的，喬伊的男朋友穿過她的。我的女兒們想知道她們什么時候能分享父親的毛衣。

如今，父親已經去世十年了，但每年的圣誕節，他的愛以及他帶給我們的回憶都把我們緊緊連在一起。父親的紅色毛衣已經讓那個勤奮大方的父親深深地印在我們的腦海里，是他讓我們體會到了分享以及大家庭的快樂。