A long time went by with no response. Letters I sent to her went unanswered. I was get ting frantic. Then a letter came from her mother, telling me my wife had died. I was devastated4. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have the money for air fare back to Thailand to pay my respects. I hadn’t known my in-laws well, and soon I fell out of touch. I vowed5 someday I would return to Thailand. Eventually, I moved on with my life. I remarried and had two children. It was nearly30 years till I went back to Thailand.
After searching many official records, I found my wife’s grave. Alone with my memories I stood
be side it and prayed. Just then a young Thai woman walked up. She put her hands together in the wye position, a Thai gesture of respect. “Did you know her”“I asked her.
“No,”she said. “But I am the reason she’s dead. It weighs heavy on my mind. I have no family. They all died. And when I feel lonely I come here.”
“Why here”“I asked.
“She died while giving birth to me. I have spent my life searching for my father, but he is an American, and I think he doesn’t want to be found.”
Now, after so long, there I stood with my daughters Siriki, an answer to a 30-year-old prayer.
时光追溯到了越南战争时期，我驻扎在泰国。在那里，我结识了一位漂亮的泰国女人，她名叫苏拉潘。我们一见钟情，没过多久便结婚了。在一次会诊之后，我妻子得知她不能怀孕。我们听到这个消息后默默祈祷，无论如何都希望这个事实发生转机，我们也能拥有一个属于我们自己的完整的家庭。
任期结束后，我又回到了美国，开始我在内华达的巡查任务。我开始大量搜集和整理有关移民的信息，因为我想要和苏拉潘一起在美国生活。
没过多久，我收到了苏拉潘寄来的一封信。天哪！她怀孕了！那个医生误诊了。我们感到阵阵的狂喜。我迫不及待地想要她和我一起回美国，共同开始幸福的生活。我心急火燎地继续为她筹备办理移民的基本资料。
很长一段时间过去了，苏拉潘杳无音信。我寄给她的信一封也没有回应。我急得有点发疯了。后来终于有了回音，不过寄信人是她的妈妈。在信中，她告诉我说，我的妻子已经不在了。我感觉周围的一切都在旋转，天昏地暗。我无所适从，不知道该做些什么。我连去泰国的机票钱都没有，我甚至无法亲自表示自己的敬意。我和苏拉潘的家人不太熟悉，不久我们也失去了联系。我发誓有一天我一定要回泰国。后来，我继续着我的生活。我再婚了，并且还有两个孩子。大概30年后，我又回到了泰国。
我查阅了许多官方记录，找到了我妻子的墓地。带着所有的回忆，我站在墓碑旁默默地祈祷。就在这时，有一个年轻的泰国姑娘走上前来。她双手合十摆成一个倒着的“Y”形，这是泰国人表示尊敬礼貌的手势。“你认识她吗？”我问道。
“不，”她回答道，“但是她因我而死。我总是为此而感到内疚、伤痛。我没有家庭。他们全都去世了。每当我感到孤独无助的时候就会来这里。”
“为什么会选择这里？”我问道。
“她刚生下我就死了。我一直在寻找我的父亲，但是他是个美国人，我想也许他根本不想我找到他。”
Love Is a Two-way Street
爱是一条双行道
A father sat at his desk poring over his monthly bills when his young son rushed in and announced,
“Dad, because this is your birthday and you’re 55 years old, I’m going to give you 55 kisses, one for each year!” When the boy started making good on his word, the father exclaimed, “Oh, Andrew, don’t do it now; I’m too busy!”
The youngster immediately fell silent as tears welled up in his big blue eyes. Apologetically the father said, “You can finish later.”
The boy said nothing but quietly walked away, disappointment written over his face. That evening the father said, “Come and finish the kisses now, Andrew!” But the boy didn’t respond.
Unfortunately, a few days later after this incident, the boy had an accident and was drowned. His heartbroken father wrote...
“If only I could tell him how much I regret my thoughtless words, and could be assured that he knows how much my heart is aching.”
…Love is a two-way street. Any loving act must be warmly accepted or it will be taken as rejection and can leave a scar. If we are too busy to give and receive love, we are too busy! Nothing is more important than responding with love to the cry for love from those who are near and precious to us. Because... there may be no chance at all as in the case of the little boy...
父亲坐在办公桌旁，正盯着那些堆积了一个月来的账单，这时，他的小儿子冲了过来，大声宣布：
“爸爸，因为今天是你五十五岁的生日，我想给你五十五个吻，一年一个！”当男孩正要兑现诺言时，他爸爸大声说道：“哦，安德鲁，现在不行，我太忙了！”
小男孩马上不吭声了，蓝色的大眼睛里涌满了泪水。父亲深表歉意地说：“过会有空再亲吧。”
男孩什么也没说，只是静静地走开了，失望的表情溢于言表。那天晚上，父亲说：“来吧，安德鲁，现在可以亲了！”但是，孩子却没有做出回应。
不幸的是，这件事刚过去几天之后，小男孩就不幸溺水身亡。伤心欲绝的爸爸写道：
如果我早告诉他，对于那些无心的话我是多么后悔，他一定会明白我的心有多么痛。”
……爱，是一条双行道。对于爱的表示一定要热心地接受，否则对方会以为你拒绝了，从而留下一道伤痕。如果我们忙得连给予和接受爱的时间都没有，那未免也忙得太过分了！对于那些在我们身边，对我们弥足珍贵的人，用爱去回应他们爱的渴望，这最重要不过了！因为……如果发生像小男孩这样的情况，即使后悔也没有机会了。
