My story is about a couple that goes to my church.They had been married 52 years that in itself is a rarity.She found out three and a half years ago that she had ovarian cancer. Three times the doctors told her that they thought that the chemotherapy had worked and that she was fine. Three times they were wrong. A few weeks ago they took her off her medication because it wasn't working anymore.
Her husband is in bad health as well. He has had chronic back pain for the past five years. At times his back is so bad that he can't get out of bed for weeks.
Last week I got a call from him (I work at the church as the church secretary), he was crying and wanted to let everyone at church know that his wife was being taken to hospital and asked for everyone's prayers. The doctor had just told him that they only expect his wife to live a few more days. I sat on the other end of the phone listening to him cry and trying to make sense of how he could love and take care of a person for 52 years.
I chose this couple for my love story because ever since I was a little girl sitting in church Sunday mornings I can remember them and the great love that they had for each other. Every week that they were able to come to church they would sit so close to each other and hold hands. They were right there beside each other at all the church functions, and when she was too weak to feed herself, he would sit next to her and feed her until she ate what he considered to be satisfactory. They both love reading, and each week they would check out a book from the church library and read it together the following week.As I listened to him on the phone, he was so upset with himself that he wasn't strong enough to keep her at home and take care of her himself. He said that he felt helpless, that he couldn't do anything to help her. What do you say to someone on the phone that was about to loose everything that he has ever known?
The day that I talked to him on the phone was the day that they took her into hospital and she died three days later. My mom went to see her the day before she died. My mom said that he was right there next to her bed holding her hand and reading to her.I thought that the story of their love was a great example, a love that endured everything. I know that it doesn't have a happy ending but the love that these two people had for each other was far beyond what I have ever experienced in my life. This was the kind of love that endured through 52 years of marriage.This couple loved and cared for each other through the best and worst times of their life, even right up to the end.
我要讲的是发生在我所在教区的一对夫妇身上的故事。他们的婚姻延续了52年，这本身就是很少见的。3年半前，女人被查出患有卵巢癌。医生们曾3次对她说过化疗有了成效，她已经痊愈了。可是，医生们错了3次。几周前，医生们停止了对她的药物治疗，因为治疗已经不再起作用了。
丈夫的身体状况也不好，在过去5年当中，他一直受到背痛的困扰，有时痛得接连几周都下不来床。
上个星期我接到他打来的电话（我在教堂里做秘书工作）。在电话里他哭了，他希望让所有来教堂的人都知道他的妻子正在医院里，他请求大家为她祈祷。医生告诉他，妻子的时日不多了。电话另一端的我坐在那里，倾听着他的哭泣，试图要弄明白他怎么能关爱并照顾一个人长达52年之久。
之所以选择这对夫妇作为我要讲的爱情故事，是因为当我还是个坐在教堂里做礼拜的小女孩时，他们以及他们那互相给予的伟大的爱就一直留在我的脑海中。每个星期，他们都会来教堂，然后à着手依偎在一起。在教堂举办的各种仪式中，都会出现他们相依相伴的身影。当妻子虚弱得不能自己进食时，他就会坐在她的身边，喂她吃东西，直到她吃到了他满意的食量。他们都喜欢读书，每周都会从教堂的图书馆里选一本书，在接下来的一周里，俩人便一起看。我在电话里听着他的倾诉，他对自己感到很失望，因为他根本无力一人在家照顾妻子，他说他感到很无助，不能为她做任何事。面对一个即将失去生平所有的人，你又能在电话里对他说些什么呢？
我与他在电话里交谈的那天，他的妻子被送进了医院，并在3天后去世了。她去世的前一天，我的母亲去医院看望她。母亲说他当时正坐在妻子的床边，à着她的手，为她读书。我觉得他们的恩爱故事是个很伟大的实例，足以证明爱可以经受住任何考验。我知道，这个故事虽然没有一个圆满的结局，但是他们彼此之间的爱却超越了我生活中所经历的任何爱。这是一种经历了52年婚姻的磨炼却历久弥新的爱。这对夫妇互敬互爱、相持相守地走过了他们人生中的风风雨雨，直到生命的尽头。
纸上的爱情
Caught by Her Smile
安贝·普赖斯 / Amber Price
Well like most authors I am one who do not believe in love at first sight until I experienced it myself.
It all started like this, I was with a few friends at McDonalds, after my lecture from school, we were chatting and laughing at some stupid stories that one of my friends told.
Just then, a group of girls came and took their seats, there was this girl, quite outstanding for that striking red top she was wearing and she had this sweet smile.
Then, while they were at the counter, ordering their food, I noticed something, they all had a disability, and they could not talk. But, this was not considered a disability to me, I walked up to them, and ask for her number, well, she was surprised.
But, she eventually gave me her address and her name is Elaine, she did not have a phone at home and there was no possibility to talk to her.
After a few days, I sent her a letter, asking her out on a date the following Saturday. Whether she agreed to the date or was it rejected, I could not tell for I did not know!
We were supposed to meet at the Lido cinema to catch a movie; I waited for around 5 mins then, she appeared. She was wearing that same smile that caught me.
In the cinema, we saw the show "Ice Age." In order to communicate, I needed to get a pen and paper.
I asked her about how she felt about me. She told me she was very happy, but at the same time, she was worried as she could not define whether my love was out of sympathy or was it from my heart.
From that moment, I have been asking myself the question, until a month later after my exams, I finally made up my mind, I was really in love with her, not for her disability that I sympathize, not for that she is pretty, but for the fact that I love her... I went to her home, which made her quite surprised, I pulled her out of her home and ran to the park in front of her block of flats. I looked at her and wrote to her how I felt, she looked at me with those big black eyes, those that could take your soul away if you were staring at them for a long time.
She took the pen and wrote this sentence, "I love you too, but now that I am assured that you love me for what I am and not out of sympathy, I feel that I will not regret the decision."
Now, we have been together for two years and although we have not planned to get married, I have never once quarrel with her, not even on paper and I never will...
像大多数作家一样，我也不相信一见钟情，直到亲身体验了它的魅力。
