Things I wish my father knew about me before he died

Susannah 陈志强（译）

精彩导读

树欲静而风不止，子欲养而亲不待。趁着父母还在，快快把儿女心中的话说出来吧。爱，就要说出口；爱，请不要留下遗憾。

文章使用了When I was 11，...和I wished he had been there to...的排比段，表达了作者对往昔的点滴回忆，对无法留住亲情、以实际行动告慰父亲在天之灵的无比惆怅。文章的语言朴素而平实，感伤中饱含期待，失落中充满美好的向往。

斯人已逝，生者奋起。一起在微笑中开启亲情时光吧。

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（刘海儿）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（窃笑）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（史诗般的）and probably be the most famous father-daughter duo since Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus.

译文助读

我11岁的时候一切都变了。当我11岁的时候，我有一个令人不愉快的南方口音，这比我今天有幸听到的令人不愉快的南方口音要烦人得多。

当我11岁的时候，我又矮又圆，没有腰围。我的头发乱蓬蓬的，刘海很厚，卷曲得像个大桶的卷发铁。

当我11岁的时候，我正经历着一个非常尴尬和丑陋的阶段。当我走过中学大厅的时候，我看着那些受欢迎的漂亮女孩低声窃窃私语。

当我11岁的时候，我确信在我的余生中，我是大声、烦人、丑陋和笨拙的。

当我11岁的时候，我的笨拙的刘海和胖乎乎的脸是我父亲最后看到的东西。我父亲最后听到的是我那刺耳的南方口音。

他去世多年后，我开始希望他能在那里看到我正在成为的那个人。

我真希望他能在那里看到我尴尬的情绪消退，体重减轻，身高增加。到我13岁的时候，我增高了12到14英寸。

我真希望他能在那儿看到那些愚蠢的刘海长出来，并看到我把卷发变成了直发。

我真希望他能在那里知道，我最终还是用善意杀死了那些漂亮、卑鄙的恶棍，然后可能偷走了她们的男朋友。

我真希望他能在那里知道，我终于掌握了钢琴的诀窍，我坚持了我作为一个孩子非常喜欢的写作爱好。

我真希望他在那里听到我那失去了一些痛苦和哀怨的声音。

我真希望他在那里看到，我爱上了一个让我想起他的好孩子——身材又高又瘦，喜欢打网球，唱着鲍勃·塞格的歌，还有他赤脚滑水的样子。

现在我希望他在那里看看我生下的这些以他的名字命名的美丽的孩子。

如果我爸爸今天还活着，我知道我们会一起做很棒的事情。他很搞笑，很有创造力，很有天赋。我很肯定，我们会做一些史诗般的事情，而且可能是比利·雷和麦莉·赛勒斯之后最有名的父女。

阅读扫障

1.eventually adv.最终地

2.be blessed with 幸运地享有；有幸得到

3.in the shape of以……的形状；呈……形状

4.remind...of使……想起……