美国国家公共电台 NPR--After decades, high school sweethearts finally get married

After decades, high school sweethearts finally get married

Transcript¹

In this week's StoryCorps, we hear about a couple who met in high school and got married later in life.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's Friday, the day we hear from StoryCorps - also, coincidentally, the day that stocks in facial tissues normally rise. When Jimmy Neeley was a senior at Longview High School in Texas, he met a sophomore² named Becky. It was 1969. And soon after they met, he joined the Navy. That is where their love story begins.

JIMMY NEELEY: I thought about you all the time. I was just, you know, pins and needles waiting to get my letters from you. I had already bought an engagement³ ring, and I was pretty sure you were going to say yes.

BECKY NEELEY: I didn't even look at the ring. I didn't even have you open the box. And I just said, no, I can't marry you. My mom did not want me to be involved with anyone in the military during the time of Vietnam because you don't know what's going to happen. In the years afterwards, I would run into your sister. I would ask about you, and she let me know that you had married.

J NEELEY: Kay and I had been together for 34 years as a married couple. And she had been really ill the last eight years of her life. It's like I was widowed for so long before. It was just really, you know, lonely. I wasn't even thinking really about dating or nothing. It never surely crossed my mind.

B NEELEY: After my husband Steve passed, I saw your picture. You were wearing your police uniform. And I thought, is that my Jimmy Neeley? I think it is. And I saw then that you had become a widower⁴.

J NEELEY: When I first seen your message, I'm thinking, well, it'd be great just to see her. And yeah, let's get together and have coffee and catch up on old times.

B NEELEY: We drove up. Our cars pulled up at the very same time.

J NEELEY: I seen the blonde hair. And I said, that's Becky.

B NEELEY: I felt like I was a teenager again, going on my first date when I was 15.

J NEELEY: And it didn't take long for me to realize how I was falling in love with you.

B NEELEY: It seems you've always moved faster than I have. I didn't know if I was ready. And then my son - he pulled me aside one day, and he said, Mom, why would you avoid happiness just because you're scared?

J NEELEY: So I decided⁵, well, I'm going to ask you again.

B NEELEY: He took me back to that same spot. Well, I told you yes this time when you proposed.

J NEELEY: I was happier than I've been in forever, It seemed like. I was so excited. It's fun being married to you. Sometimes, I wake up, and every day, I thank God that he brought you back into my life.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: Jimmy and Becky Neeley for StoryCorps. They married on Valentine's Day in 2020 and live in Rockwall, Texas. Their conversation is archived at the Library of Congress.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

3 engagement   

n.订婚，婚约，约定，约会

参考例句：

• I can't see you on Monday because I have a previous engagement.星期一我不能见你，因为我有约在先。
• It was my mother's very own engagement ring.这正是我母亲自己的订婚戒指。

4 widower   

n.鳏夫

参考例句：

• George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
• Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后，他终于决定二婚了。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。