第43章难忘的腌菜罐(1)
ThePickleJar
A。W。科布A。W。Cobb
AsfarbackasIremember,thelargepicklejarsatonthefloorbesidethedresseris’bedroom。Whereadyforbed,Dadwouldemptyhispodtosshistothejar。AsasmallboyIwasalwaysfasatedatthesoundstheadeastheyweredroppediheylahamerryjihejarty。Theonesgraduallymutedtoadullthudasthejarwasfilled。Iusedtosquatonthefloorinfrontofthejarahedsilvercirclesthatglie’streasurewhenthesuhroughthebedroomwindow。
&hejarwasfilled,Dadwouldsitatthekittableandrollthesbefthemtothebank。Takiothebankwasalrodu。Staeatlyinasmallcardboardbox,theswereplacedbetweenDadaheseatofhisoldtruck。Eadeverytime,aswedrovetothebank,Dadwouldlookatmehopefully。“Thosesaregoiofthetextilemill,stodobetterthahisoldmilltown’snotgoingtoholdyouback。”Also,eadeverytime,asheslidtheboxofrolledsacrosstheteratthebanktowardthecashier,hewouldgrinproudly。“Theseareformyson’scollegefund。He’llthemillallhislifelikeme。”
ayscelebrateeachdepositbystoppingforanicee。Ialwaysgotchocolate。DadalwaysgotvaheclerkattheicecreamparlorhandedDadhisge,hewouldshowmethefewestledinhispalm。“Whehome,we’llstartfillingthejaragain。”
Healwaysletmedropthefirstptyjar。Astheyrattledaroundwithabrief,happyjingle,wegriher。“You’llgettopennies,nickels,dimesandquarters,”hesaid。“Butyou’llgetthere。I’llseetothat。”
Theyearspassed,andIfinisheddtookajobiown。Ois,Iusedthephoheirbedroom,ahepicklejarwasgohadserveditspurposeandhadbeenremoved。AlumproseinmythroatasIstaredatthespotbesidethedresserwherethejarhadalwaysstood。Mydadwasamanoffewwords,auredmeonthevaluesofdetermination,perseverandfaith。Thepicklejarhadtaughtmeallthesevirtuesfarmoreeloquentlythafloweryofwordscouldhavedone。
WheoldmywifeSusanaboutthesignifitpartthelowlypicklejarhadplayedinmylifeasaboy。Inmymind,itdefihananythingelse,howmuchmydadhadlovedme。Nhthingsgotathome,Daduedtodoggedlydrophistothejar。EventhesummerwhenDadgotlaidofffromthemill,andMamahadtoservedriedbeaimesaweek,notasiakenfromthejar。Orary,asDadlookedacrossthetableatme,pybeahemmorepalatable,hebeiomakeawayoutforme。“Whenyoufinishcollege,sooldme,hiseyesglistening,“you’llbeansagainunlessyouwantto。”