父亲与狗的温情故事TheOldManandtheDog
佚名Anonymous
SayioMegwasthehardestthingI‘veeverdone。She’dbeenpartofmylifef,alwaystherewhenIneededher。
Throughoutthelastffteenyears,shedbeefriend,sharingmyjoyandsadness。
Shedseenmemarryawo,losemymotheraherthroughalongillness。Somuelifetime。
Weburiedherinherfavouriteerofthegardeheflcherrytree。MatthewmadealittlecrossoutofwoodandLauracarefullyprintedhernameinred。
Friendsarealwaysfullofgoodadviceattimeslikethat。Getanisoes-butyoutrepladlikethat。
Myfatherhadbeehelplessafterastroke。I‘dnursedhimbacktohealth,butIwasbeginwe’dtakenastepback>
Amspassing,ItookatrayintothegardenforDad。Helikedtositohesunshine。
“Teaandbiscuits,Dad。”Isaidcheerfully。
&urnedaway,startled,butnotbeforeIdseeearonhischeek。
“Whatalovelyday,”Iburbled,givinghimtimetoself。
“YesJill,”hesaidatlast。“Itsbeautiful。”
“Trytoeatsomething,Dad。”
Hesighedahesky。
“Thewillbehomefromsiled。“Thenyoullhaveafightonyourhandsifyouwantabiscuit。”
HechuckledsoftlyandIhadtoswallowthelumpwhichhadriseninmythroat。
“Iloveyou,Dad。”Irestedmyhandonhisshoulder。“Please,dontgiveup。”
“Idontknowwhatyoumean。”Heshrugged。
“Yes,youdo。You‘vefoughteveryinchoftheinning,too,butlately,it’sasifyouvejustgivenup。”
Heheavedasighandpickedupabisibblingatitbefatme。
Dadsdeepuzzledthedoctor,too。
“I‘msorry。There’snothingphysigwithyourfather,apartfromwhat‘sleftoverfromthestroke。Aally,well,Ireallydon’tthihingtoworryaboutthere。”
&ht。Dad‘sbloodtestscamebackdfurthertestsshowedn。Heshouldhavebeengtogetbetter—buthe>
Itriedallkiotempthisfailie。Ieverpersuadedhimtoeforadriveiassoohome,he‘dsinkbatoapathyandI’dthink,Imlosinghimagain。
WhatmadeitsomuchhardertobearwasthefactthatIrememberedhimsowellasayoungman。Hedbeensofullyandlife,gmeonhisshoulders,gmearoundtheparkandgmeupinhisarms。
&offforawalkandalways,always,I’drunoutofthehousebehindhim。Hedhadsuchazestforlifethatitbrokemyhearttoseehimnow,sittingoutinthegarden,ablaoverhisknees,gaziospace。
&cametolivewithusafterthestroke,hedbeenbed-ridden。IsmiledasIrememberedhowMeghadfinallygothimup。
DearMeg。Shedbroughtinastithegardenaraightupstairswithit!
Ifollowedher,wwhatohsheto。ShedepositedthestiDadsbed,thensteppedbaghertaillikemad。
Dadliftedhisheadfromthepillow。
“Whatsthis?”
Shebarkedeversosoftlyaickwithhernose。
“Forme?”Dadchuckled,reagforit,butMegwastooquiatchedthestickback。