令人感动的礼物（1/2）

A Father’s Gift fro a Daughter

雷蒙德·L.莫尔黑德/Rayond L.Morehead

To suessfully raise any child these days is hard work, to say the least, and it is often both physically and ntally taxg for a other and father.The fruit of this bor of love ay not be seen for years after the child has left ho and bees a parent.There is no stru anual or book of“what-ifs”that es with each child when they are born, nor a titable of what to do and when.Each day is a new challeo its own, where suess is often arkedfras of an ch rather than yards and iles.So how and when do arents know when we have had suess?

My answerFather’s Day.Toan old sayg,“It’s not the gift but the thought that unts.”So it was on this day when I was given o craft boxes as gifts fro y grown daughter, ohe size of a cigar box and the other the size of a rge rg box.“Daddy,”she said,“please sit withon the floor like you did years before.”So we sat down upon the flether and she hahe first box.“Open it.”Inside was a letter and peared to be a child’s lle of odds and ends.“Daddy,”she said,“read the letter first.”

Dear Dad,

The et the ore I realize what an iportant fence you’ve beeny life.So for Father’s Day I decided to give you o nto boxes, both filled with special ories and thgs I keep close to y heart, thgs that you once gave .In the first and rger box you will fd jt a few of y special reders of you and tis we shared together jt we o.

1.A pair of shs tied with a bow.These are reders of the hours you spent teachgto tie y own shoes so long ago.

2.A Band-Aid, to redof all the scrapes and cuts you fixed on y elbows and keachgto ride y first bike.

3.A wee storybook, for all the special ade-up bedti stories you read toall at night.

4.A pack of a child’s learng fsh cards, a sybol of your teachgand helpgthrough y years of school even when I thought I k all.

5.A arble.I wish it was one of the ones you gave toand I lost, fro your special ones you pyed with when you wereschool.

6.A seg kit and a wee seg ache redsof the real ones you gaveand on which you taughthow to sew.

7.A piece fro y childhood bhat you would always verup with ead every night.

8.A broke, sybol of all the brokes aaches you helpedthrough.

9.A silver dolr redsof all the tis you gaveyour st dolr when you least uld afford to but knewyour heart when I reallythe ost.

10.A tissue.This is for all the tis I cried on your shoulder and you dried up all the tears becae you cared.

11.A leaf.A sybol of nature that you taughtto uand, enjoy and respect

12.One aspir redsof all the headaches I t have given you and Mo over the years, yet you seldo ped.I know it should be a truckload if the truth be told.

13.A piece of dy, to let you khese ories are still to .

14.Last but not least, a photo of y children and , to redto teach y children all that you and Mo have taught , and to share with the the love that only parents like you both have given to .

I had tearsy eyes and an achey heart as she gave the send, sallest box to .“Open it now, please.”she said.

Inside I found another note andthis one she wrote: Daddy,

In this box I was gog to put all of what really ade a differeo .All of what it was that you gaveto akewhat I a today.But if I gave it back to you then I would have the best part ofissg, which is all the love, hugs and kisses you gavefro the ti I was born till now, and for which there is no be enough.So I thk I will hold on to these and share the with y children who I hope one day will uand what a wonderful gift they are to give and receive.I love you, Daddy, and Happy Father’s Day!

成功地抚养一个孩子长大是件艰辛的事，起码对于父母来说，养育孩子会令他们身心俱疲。在自己的孩子离开家门、为人父母之前，这种爱的劳动成果或许在很多年里都得不到收获。在每个孩子出生时，并没有什么手册或者“预测未来”的书跟随他们而至，也同样不会有一张写着什么时间做什么事情的时刻表。每天都是一个新的挑战，巨大的付出却只是获得微不足道的成功。那么，身为父母的我们，如何知道什么时候获得了成功呢？

我的答案在父亲节这天不期而至。套用一句老话，那就是“礼轻情义重”。父亲节那天，已长大成人的女儿送给我两个盒子，其中一个盒子有烟盒般大小，另一个则与戒指盒差不多大。女儿对我说：“爸爸，请陪我一起坐在地板上吧，就像多年以前那样。”于是，我们一起坐下来。她把第一个盒子递给我，说道：“打开来看看。”盒子里面装着一封信和一些似乎像是小孩子收集的零碎东西。女儿说：“爸爸，您先读读那封信吧。”亲爱的爸爸：

随着我年龄的增长，我愈加明白您在我生命中的影响有多么重要。于是，我决定在父亲节这天，送给您两个具有纪念意义的盒子。里面都装满了我特别的记忆和珍藏的东西。那些都是您曾经送给我的。盛放在第一个大盒子里面的东西，会让我回想起与您共同度过的美好时光。

1.用丝带系着的一双鞋带。它们勾起了很多年之前您教我系鞋带的记忆。

2.创可贴。它让我回想起您教我第一次骑车时的情景。我的肘部和膝盖都被擦伤了。这是您帮我贴在伤口处的创可贴。

3.袖珍故事书。这本书中的故事是特地为孩子们编写的，您在每个夜晚，读着故事伴我们入睡。

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