许多年过去了。我的丈夫己经长出了灰发。我也不再骨瘦如柴。上周的一天早晨我醒来时，我丈夫的脸离我只有几英寸。
“你在干什么？” 我问。
我捂住嘴，不想让他闻到嘴里的气味。他俯身过来亲吻我的脸。
“做我每天早晨都做的事。”他说。
他清晨就得离开家，我常常还在熟睡。我因我们早上没有谈话而感到遗憾，但是我还未曾意识到他一直在告诉我他爱我，哪怕是在我还睡着时。当他离开后，我在床上翻过身去，抱着我的枕头。我想象着我睡觉时轻轻打鼾，嘴巴还微微张着的样子，不禁咯咯笑了。
这样一个男人！我丈夫知道我的过去。在我从一个不自信的年轻女子变成一个成熟自信的女人、母亲、演讲者、作家的过程中，他一直在我身边。
但是我不确信他是否知道在这一变化过程中他起着怎样的作用。伴我长大的话语曾刺入我的灵魂，但他的话语更是深深地感动了我的灵魂。
今年的结婚周年纪念日我打算早点醒来。我要告诉理查德我是多么地爱他。照镜子时，他也许会发现又增加了一两磅体重，或者期望有一天他的头发又是乌黑拳曲的，但是我所看到的是这样一个男人，是他发现我身上具备什么东西，而我未能发现，是他天天给我留下蝶吻，即使是在结婚23年后。
A Red，Red Rose 一朵红红的玫瑰
Oh my love is like a red， red rose，
That’s newly sprung in June；
Oh my love is like the melodie，
That’s sweetly played in tune.
As fair thou art， my bonie lass，
So deep in luve am I；
And I will love forever， my dear，
Till a’ the seas gang dry.
Till a’ the sea gang dry， my dear，
And the rock melt wi’ the sun；
And I will luve thee still， my dear，
While the sands o’ life shall run.
And fare thee weel， my only luve，
And fare thee weel a while；
And I will come again， my luve，
Tho’s it were ten thousand mile！
啊，我的爱人象红红的玫瑰，
在六月里苞放；
啊，我的爱人象一支乐曲，
乐声美妙、悠扬。
你那么美，漂亮的姑娘；
我爱你那么深切；
我会永远爱你，亲爱的，
一直到四海涸竭。
直到四海涸竭，亲爱的，
直到太阳把岩石消融！
我会永远爱你，亲爱的，
只要生命无穷。
再见吧，我唯一的爱人，
再见吧，小别片刻；
我会回来的，我的爱人，
即使万里相隔！
Simplify the Life 让生活简单一些
Two years ago Shirley Michels of St. Louis found herself getting up earlier and earlier， and going to bed later and later， just to meet everyday demands. The wife， mother and ophthalmic technician met herresponsibilities， but lacked time for the things that mattered most.
She and her husband， Vic， an attorney， began searching for ways to simplify their lives. “We had to decide what was really important，” says Shirley. They knew they wanted more time to play with their three-year-old son， Ryan， to exercise and eat right， and to nurturefriendships.
So the couple chose to live more modestly， shopping with care for necessities and enjoying inexpensive pleasures such as reading， cooking and going to the park. Shirley quit her job and began working part time from home. She printed up business cards that read “At your service—buy yourself a little time，” and hired herself out for personal tasks such as shopping， paying bills， organizing parties， doing Internet research—whatever clients needed.
“I still work hard， but being able to control my hours makes all the difference，” she says. “I can carve out time to take my son to the zoo or play basketball with him. My stress headaches are gone. Having a chance to get to know neighbors not only has been fun， but it’s also helped us further simplify.
两年前，圣路易斯州的雪莉·米歇尔斯发现自己起得越来越早，睡得越来越晚却仅能满足日常的生活需求。尽管无论是作为一名妻子，一位母亲，还是眼科技师她都已尽了职责，但她却没有时间做最重要的事情。
她和她的丈夫维克，一名律师，开始想办法简化他们的生活。雪莉说：“我们得决定什么是生活中真正重要的。”他们知道自己想拥有更多的时间和三岁的儿子瑞安在一起，做做游戏，做做运动，让他吃好，以培养他们之间的感情。
因此这对夫妻选择了一种更简单的生活方式，注意只买生活的必需品，从事一些花钱不多的消遣，诸如阅读、烹调、逛公园。雪莉辞掉了原来的工作，开始做半天工作，比如说为私人购物、付款、组织聚会、做国际互联网研究方面的事情——做客户所要求做的一切。她在她的商业名片上印上“听候您的吩咐——给你自己留点时。”
她说：“我仍然在努力工作，但现在能够自己控制时间却使一切变得大不一样了。我能抽出一些时间领儿子去动物园，或和他一起玩玩篮球。我因压力而造成的头痛消失了。有机会去了解邻居不仅给生活带来了乐趣，而且还有助于使我的生活变得更加简单化。
Outstanding Lotus Flowers荷香万顷
To commemorate my father’s centenaries birthday， my elder brother， who lives in Yun Gui Plateau， and I went back to meet our sisters in hometown last July. Undoubtedly， this family reunion had brought tremendous excitement and happiness to our 5 separated brothers and sisters. After a solemn ceremony to our poor father who had died years ago， one of my sisters suggested travelling around our hometown to cease our grief. We all appreciated her smart idea and selected Po Yang Hu Lack as our first tour spot.
The car was driven as quick as a gust of wind. After mere one hour’s journey， we had been far away from the dusty and noisy town. The breeze was softly blowing to our faces together with a faint sweet-smell. The smell was presenting from time to time at first. Then， it came to be clearer and clearer. We felt as if it was not simply coming through our nostrils but penetrating to our inner organs. I found the smell was very familiar， but I hardly remembered what it was？
“Look， Lotuses！” my younger sister cried out. Along her pointed direction， we found a spectacular scene and all shouted out simultaneously！ “Wow！ My God， so many lotuses there！”
Downward the dyke there were endless lotuses with dark green leaves and pink flowers around us.
The leaves were swaying in the wind just like green waves surging from the horizon to the dyke base. The waves were dazzling with their constant changing from dark green to pale white for the leaves turning the faces and backs over and over again. At the far end， the green leaves repeatedly fell down， while the pink flowers were looked like slowly rising up， due to the flowers stems borne less wind load and had less bending， which looked like clouds of red mists slowly rolling up from the blue sea.
“Should we take off the car and go down the dyke for a close look？” my elder sister suggested. “ Good idea！” we all responded loudly and came to the bank.
