My aunt died back in about 2003. She was eighty-four and so was my uncle. When she passed he was devastated. They had been married for over 60 years. We expected him to pass on quickly after she died. He attended his church more frequently and his mourning was nearly unbearable to witness. His only daughter lived clear across the country so he had only the rest of the extended family and church family to comfort him.
我伯母大約在2003年去世。她已是84歲高齡,我伯父與她同齡。伯母的去世對伯父來說是個沉重的打擊。他們結(jié)婚超過 60年了。伯母去世后,我們以為伯父很快也會跟著離開。伯父愈加頻繁地去教會,他的悲慟幾乎令人不忍目睹。他唯一的女兒一直住在離他很遠的另一個地方,因而他只能從家族的遠親以及教會同伴那里尋求慰藉。
My cousin talked him into selling the house that he and my aunt had built together about twenty five years before. It was very hard to part with the home they built together. He was going to move into an apartment, but at the last moment, my cousin and he saw a new house for sale, that was close to his business. She helped him buy furniture and a flat screen television. He had not watched television for years because of his religion. He got back into watching the news and history channel and religious programs when my aunt was in the nursing home. He was like a kid with a new toy but still grieved horribly for my aunt.
我堂姐游說伯父賣掉那棟他和伯母大概在25年前一起建造的房子。要離開他倆一起建造的 “家”,這對伯父而言非常艱難。他準備搬進一間公寓,不過就在最后一刻,我堂姐和他看中了一棟待售的新房,而且這房子離伯父的公司很近。堂姐幫伯父買來了家具和一臺平板電視機。由于他的宗教信仰,伯父已經(jīng)很多年沒有看電視了。他如同一個拿到一件新玩具的孩子那樣開心,不過對于伯母的離去,他還是非常傷心。
One day he called my cousin who was living in Texas and told her that he reconnected with a lady from a church that he and my aunt went to forty years previously. She played piano and his church was looking for new music. Her husband had died about seven years previously. He said he just wanted someone to go out to dinner with and spend time with. We were happy for them but had no idea how it would turn out. They were both almost eighty-seven years old.
有一天,伯父打電話給我那住在得克薩斯州的堂姐,告訴她說他和一位女士重新取得了聯(lián)系,而那位女士來自他和伯母40多年前常去的一間教堂。那位女士會彈鋼琴,而伯父所在的教會正要找新的音樂伴奏。那位女士的丈夫大約七年前去世了。伯父說,他只是想有個人一起出去吃飯,一起消磨時光。我們很為他們倆高興,卻不知道結(jié)果會如何。他們倆都將近87歲高齡。

They were like love-birds and spent as much time together as they could. They both had one child each, she a son, he a daughter.They had the same birthday although her son was a couple of years older. She had a housethat her father built for her when she got married to her first husband. She was content there. 他們倆如同一對恩愛夫妻一般,盡可能多地在一起共度時光。他們各自都有一個孩子,她有個兒子,而他有個女兒。她有棟房子,是她父親在她和第一任丈夫結(jié)婚時為她建的。她在里面住得很滿意。
The other fly in the ointment was that they were both very busy people. They both still worked! They were in their middle eighties and both had their own family businesses. She worked for her son who took over the family business and he had his own business.
另一處美中不足的是,他們倆都是非常忙碌的人。他們倆都仍然在工作!他們都已80多歲,都還有各自的家族生意。她為已經(jīng)接管了家族生意的兒子工作,而他有自己的公司。 
The clash in their relationship came when they neither wanted to leave their respective churches. She went to her Baptist church that she had attended for many years and he went to his which was a Pentacostal. They decided to remain friends but nothing more. He was broken hearted, but felt that his religion was the only way. She didn't want to leave her church and didn't like the extreme of his.
他們都不愿意脫離各自的教會,這使得他們的關系出現(xiàn)了沖突。她去的是已經(jīng)加入多年的浸禮會,而他去的是五旬節(jié)派教會。他們決定只做朋友,別無他求。對此,伯父傷心不已,不過他感到自己的信仰是唯一的撫慰方式。而她不想離開自己所在的教會,也不喜歡他的教會那么偏激。
Before too long they realized that they did not want to be apart. They would find a new church together. They planned to marry. When he took her to a jewelry store and bought her a diamond, the employees were so impressed that they had a big write up in our own local paper, "The Truth," for Valentines' Day. They prepared for their wedding. They moved the wedding date up because neither wanted to wait any longer to "be together,"and it was not proper to "be together" without being married.
不久,兩人意識到他們并不想分開。他們要一起加入一個新的教會,并打算結(jié)婚。當他帶著她前往一家珠寶店給她買鉆戒時,那些店員們都非常感動,寫了一大篇文章發(fā)表在我們當?shù)氐膱蠹埳?標題為“情人節(jié)‘真諦’”。他們?yōu)榛槎Y做著準備。由于他們倆都迫不及待地想要“在一起”,而不結(jié)婚就不是嚴格意義上的“在一起”,所以他們把婚期提前了。
They got married in her house, where they decided they would live. Her son and daughter-in-law stood up with her. His daughter and ninety-three year old brother and his girlfriend stood up with him. It was such a beautiful refreshing thing to see, two people who you would have thought had pretty much lived their lives, were beginning a new one together.I have never seen my uncle happier. He is still in love and she loves him as much as he loves her. I am so happy for them both and we eagerly accepted her and her family into ours.
他們在她的房子里舉行了婚禮,并決定婚后一起住在那里。這是一件看來如此美好而令人欣喜的事情——兩位你原以為已經(jīng)度過了大半生的老人即將在一起開始新生活。我從未看到我伯父像現(xiàn)在這般快樂幸福。他仍然沉浸在愛河中,而且他們彼此深愛著對方。
If you ever think that it is too late for you to find true love or your life is over, you should see more relationships like theirs. They are both still working and they have been married now
 for almost two years. They are both going to be ninety in the next two months, and still work part time. They love their life together. They still maintain their own home and go to church, out to eat and with their family and friends. It is never too late to find true love, again, or for the first time!
如果你曾認為,尋找真愛對你來說已經(jīng)太遲,或者你的人生已經(jīng)結(jié)束了,那么你應該多看看像他們倆這樣的浪漫故事。他們都還在工作,而且他們現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)結(jié)婚將近兩年了。再過兩個月,他們倆都將迎來90歲高壽,他們熱愛兩人在一起的生活。同時,他們?nèi)匀痪S系著各自的家庭、一起去教堂、和他們的家人朋友們一起外出聚餐。尋找真愛永遠不會太遲,無論是再一次還是第一次!
 
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fly in the ointment:美中不足