开启心灵之门Opening the Door（1/2）

佚名/Anonyo

“Joe? Is that you?”The eakg toat the basketball ga looked vaguely failiar.“Marci?”

“It Is you!”She excid, silg broadly.“Gosh, it’s good to see you aga!”

It was good to see Marci, too.Off and on durg the past few decades I’ve wondered about her.I alost tried to track her down a few years ago after talkg to a utual friend who had dicated that the st decade had beey rocky for Marci.So bupg to her at the basketball ga was, at the very least, fortuito.

We spent a few utes catchg up on the bess of our lives—kids and careers, spoes and hoes, education and recreation (it’s always a little disg to see hoords are required to suarize 25 years of livg ).We pyed a little“have you seen ...”and“did you know...”and we reisced about the good old, bad old days.Then Marci grew quiet for a ont, lookg out over the crowd illg about the ncession area.

“You know, Joe,”she said,“I’ve always wao tell you...how...you know...how sorry I a for the way I treated you.”I squird.One does not like to reber when one has been uncereonioly duped.

“It’s OK,”I said.“No big deal.”At least, I thought to yself, not now.“But I was such a jerk,”she ntued.Yes you were, I thought.“We were both pretty young,”I said.

“I know,”she said.“But that’s no exce for...”She hesitated, then ntued.“It’s jt always bothered , reberg how an I was to you.And I’ve wao tell you that I’ sorry.So...I’ sorry.”The sile on her face was war and scere.And there was sothgher eyes—it looked a lot like relief—that lted aiges of icy resentnt that ay have built up withdurg the years sce she had s-dunked y heart.

“OK,”I said.“Apology aepted!”Overe by the sweetness of the ont, I reached an ar around her and gave her a quick hug.Jt then, the crowd erupted with a huge cheer, and Mard I both returned our attention to the ga.By the ti I looked over to where she had been, she was go the war, wonderful feelg of our brief exge was still there, and o this day whenever I thk about it.

We all carry bitter, disf ories of deeds done or undone, and words said or unsaid.And we all bear wounds—so slight, so not-so-slight—that have been flicted uponby others.The healg bal of fivenesssoothe a troubled nsd brg peace to an jured soul—even years after the fact.

Of urse, it isn’t enough to jt say“I’ sorry”and“You’re fiven.”While there is deed great powerthose siple words, it is not avaible to those who are sles of the heart and soul—iracles of fiveness.

Even at a basketball ga.

“乔？是你吗？”篮球赛上一个有些面熟的女人问我。“玛西？”

她大笑并惊叫道：“真的是你！天啊，再次见到你真高兴啊！”

见到玛西，我也很开心。过去的几十年中，我也时不时地会想起她。几年前，我听一个我们都认识的朋友说，前十年里玛西过得很苦，当时我几乎要去追寻她的下落。能在篮球赛上碰面真是很幸运。

我们聊了几分钟的家常事，孩子和事业，爱人和家庭，教育和娱乐（仅用几句话就概括了25年的生活，真是让人感到有些不安。）我们用“你见过……”、“你知道……”询问了对方一些问题，又回忆了过去美好和沮丧的时光。之后，玛西沉默了一会儿，向地摊那边拥挤的人群望去。

她说：“乔，你知道的。我总是想对你说……你不知道……当初那样对你，我感到很难过。”我有些不知所措。

人是不愿记住曾经被别人随便抛弃的日子。

我答道：“我很好，不用把它放在心上。”至少我现在是这样认为。“但是我曾经是那么傻。”她继续说。我心想，你确实是。“那时我们都太年轻。”我说。

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