2006年NPR美国国家公共电台十月-'Like Being 19': A Lifetime Spent Togethe

And it's time for another of your stories, courtesy of StoryCorps. StoryCorps is the oral history project that collects interviews from all over America. My name is Sandi Cote Whitaker. My age is 59. My name is Bobbi Cote Whitaker, I'm 58 years old. And my partner is my wife. That' the beginning of a conversation between Sandi and Bobbi Cote Whitaker. They've been partners for almost 40 years. Recently, they went to a StoryCorps Booth in Burlington, Vermont, to talk about their relationship. And Bobbi here begins the conversation.

Do you remember what it was like when we were 19 and totally in love and couldn't tell anyone?

I do. I remember the feeling of I have found the person I am going to spend the rest of my life with, and discovering that I couldn't have anybody else celebrate it with me. When something happens that makes you feel so good, and you have to hide it. It takes away a little bit of the joy of finding someone.

Do you remember what it was like when we moved to Ohio?

Ohio, yes, I remember Ohio. I remember the second day that we were there, your mother came by and said she wanted to talk to me. She told me that it was a small town, that your father was a prominent doctor and that she would give us three days to get out of town so that we wouldn't disgrace your father, his practice, your extended family. So ,yeah, I remember Ohio.

Well, they then sent me to a psychiatrist¹ to see if they can fix me. That obviously didn't work since we were still together.

We had been together for 33 years when we finally for the first time got to stand up in front of our friends and family, and tell them that we loved each other, and that we cared for each other, and that we were going to take care of each other for the rest of our lives. And I remember your mom deciding that her daughter should have the right to marry.

My mom had been diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage. And she actually wanted to walk us down the aisle² before she died. This is the same woman that gave us three days to get out of the town.

Yes, the same woman.

So we thought about it for about 3 seconds and then said "Okay, we will have a civil union. "We had it in her backyard with three of our ministers, a lot of friends from church. It was a beautiful ceremony. I remember the minister saying, you know, Bobbi and Sandi did it backwards³, you know, they did all of the committing stuff and then got married.

I didn't believe that there was another level that we could reach. But just having the ceremony and stating publicly, and having our friends and family there happy for us. We were sort of like being 19 again and celebrating our love.

Sandi and Bobbi Cote Whitaker at StoryCorps in Vermont. Four years after their Vermont civil union, they were officially married in the State of Massachusetts. Their story and all StoryCorps recordings⁴ are housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. You can learn how to record your memories by going to npr.org.

Major funding for StoryCorps comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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bend over backward或
lean over backward
To make an effort greater than is required.
竭尽全力：做比所需的更大的努力

1 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

2 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

3 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

4 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐