Things I wish my father knew about me before he died

Susannah 陳志強（譯）

精彩導讀

樹欲靜而風不止，子欲養而親不待。趁著父母還在，快快把兒女心中的話說出來吧。愛，就要說出口；愛，請不要留下遺憾。

文章使用了When I was 11，...和I wished he had been there to...的排比段，表達了作者對往昔的點滴回憶，對無法留住親情、以實際行動告慰父親在天之靈的無比惆悵。文章的語言樸素而平實，感傷中飽含期待，失落中充滿美好的向往。

斯人已逝，生者奮起。一起在微笑中開啟親情時光吧。

Everything changed when I was 11.When I was 11,I had a whiny（令人不愉快的）southern accent that was much more annoying than the whiny southern accent that I am blessed with today.

When I was 11,I was short and round,without a waistline.I had untidy hair and thick bangs（劉海兒）that curled under in the exact shape of a large-barrel curling iron.

When I was 11,I was going through a terribly awkward and ugly period,and I watched the popular,pretty girls whisper and snicker（竊笑）as I walked past them in the middle school hall.

When I was 11,I was sure that I’d be loud,annoying,ugly and awkward for the rest of my life.

When I was 11,my awkward bangs and chubby（胖嘟嘟的）face were the last thing my father saw.My whiny,southern-twangy voice was the last thing my father heard.

Years after he passed away,I began to wish he were there to see the person I was becoming.

Iwished he had been there to see the awkwardness fade and the weight fall off and my height increase by 12 to 14 inches by the time I was 13.

I wished he had been there to see that those stupid bangs grew and I changed the curling iron for a straightening iron.

I wished he had been there to know that I eventually killed the pretty,mean bullies（以大欺小者）with kindness and then might or might not have stolen their boyfriends.

I wished he had been there to know that I finally got the hang of the piano and that I stuck with the writing hobby that I loved so much as a child.

I wished he had been there to hear that my voice lost some of its pain and whiny twang.

I wished he had been there to see that I fell in love with a good kid who reminds me of him—tall and skinny with a love of playing tennis,singing Bob Seger,and water-skiing barefoot.

And now I wish he were here to see these beautiful children that I bore and named after him.

If my dad were alive today,I know we would do wonderful things together.He was humorous,creative,and talented.I’m pretty sure we’d do something epic（史詩般的）and probably be the most famous father-daughter duo since Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus.

譯文助讀

我11歲的時候一切都變了。當我11歲的時候，我有一個令人不愉快的南方口音，這比我今天有幸聽到的令人不愉快的南方口音要煩人得多。

當我11歲的時候，我又矮又圓，沒有腰圍。我的頭發亂蓬蓬的，劉海很厚，卷曲得像個大桶的卷發鐵。

當我11歲的時候，我正經歷著一個非常尷尬和丑陋的階段。當我走過中學大廳的時候，我看著那些受歡迎的漂亮女孩低聲竊竊私語。

當我11歲的時候，我確信在我的余生中，我是大聲、煩人、丑陋和笨拙的。

當我11歲的時候，我的笨拙的劉海和胖乎乎的臉是我父親最后看到的東西。我父親最后聽到的是我那刺耳的南方口音。

他去世多年后，我開始希望他能在那里看到我正在成為的那個人。

我真希望他能在那里看到我尷尬的情緒消退，體重減輕，身高增加。到我13歲的時候，我增高了12到14英寸。

我真希望他能在那兒看到那些愚蠢的劉海長出來，并看到我把卷發變成了直發。

我真希望他能在那里知道，我最終還是用善意殺死了那些漂亮、卑鄙的惡棍，然后可能偷走了她們的男朋友。

我真希望他能在那里知道，我終于掌握了鋼琴的訣竅，我堅持了我作為一個孩子非常喜歡的寫作愛好。

我真希望他在那里聽到我那失去了一些痛苦和哀怨的聲音。

我真希望他在那里看到，我愛上了一個讓我想起他的好孩子——身材又高又瘦，喜歡打網球，唱著鮑勃·塞格的歌，還有他赤腳滑水的樣子。

現在我希望他在那里看看我生下的這些以他的名字命名的美麗的孩子。

如果我爸爸今天還活著，我知道我們會一起做很棒的事情。他很搞笑，很有創造力，很有天賦。我很肯定，我們會做一些史詩般的事情，而且可能是比利·雷和麥莉·賽勒斯之后最有名的父女。

閱讀掃障

1.eventually adv.最終地

2.be blessed with 幸運地享有；有幸得到

3.in the shape of以……的形狀；呈……形狀

4.remind...of使……想起……