2007年NPR美国国家公共电台四月-Saying 'Thank You' to Liddie

On Friday mornings ,we bring you StoryCorps when people across the country share stories about their lives. And today two parents remember their daughter. Liddie Horsey was born with a rare genetic¹ disorder². It's called Cornelia de Lange Syndrome³. It held her back developmentally. At eight years old, Liddie was still fed by her parents. She could only speak one word: Mama. At that same year she became ill and died. Here her parents Tom Horsey and Karen Manning Horsey talk about how Liddie changed their lives.

Oh, I'm so mad that we didn't take more videos now of her. You know, but who, who would know? It's so funny to look at when she first started walking. When she was 28 months, I think when she first started walking. It was over two years right now.

Right! Because they said if she didn't walk by 24 months, (that she wouldn't walk) that she wouldn't walk.

And as usual, Liddie did things on her own time schedule. And at 28 months, remember she started to walk around the coffee table? (Right, for hours and hours.) And then, all of a sudden, she started to take.She would just hold on and make circles and circles ( Yeah.) and bang things on the table. And then she started to take her steps and she was so happy. And that's when I knew that if we threw out those stupid milestone⁴ books. And then Liddie would just be Liddie. And I would just be happy and rejoice in seeing every little thing she did and not to worry about those stupid books with their stupid milestones⁵. Because you can't live your life measuring your child against the norm.

Thing I remember how she developed in health. She learned to walk into the classroom where right to her chair. And just sat right there, she pulled it out. She knew exactly what to do. And I don't see Liddie not speaking as a loss. Because she was so expressive⁶, I mean, she was always laughing and giggling⁷. And you know, it doesn't strike me as that was anything that was missing in a way. Because she was so, just active and expressive and, oh, God, she laughed so much, Jesus, you know.

And I think that's the thing I miss the most is without speaking, how her soul could fill the house, and you just knew she was there.

I could tell where she was by the sound of the word, whatever. She was being there, you know.

If you think about it, Tom. In eight years, she profoundly changed who you and I are and how we live our lives. If she was sitting here, what I would say is: Thank you for making me your mom! (Yeah) It was the greatest experience I've ever have.

Karen Manning Horsey and Thom Horsey at StoryCorps in Richmond, virginia. All StoryCorps interviews are archived at The Library of Congress. And you can subscribe⁸ to the projects' podcast by going to our website NPR.org.

1 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

4 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

5 milestones   

n.重要事件( milestone的名词复数 )；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑

参考例句：

• Several important milestones in foreign policy have been passed by this Congress and they can be chalked up as major accomplishments. 这次代表大会通过了对外政策中几起划时代的事件，并且它们可作为主要成就记录下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dale: I really envy your milestones over the last few years, Don. 我真的很羡慕你在过去几年中所建立的丰功伟绩。 来自互联网

6 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

7 giggling   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We just sat there giggling like naughty schoolchildren. 我们只是坐在那儿像调皮的小学生一样的咯咯地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I can't stand her giggling, she's so silly. 她吃吃地笑，叫我真受不了，那样子傻透了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 subscribe   

vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助

参考例句：

• I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
• The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。