美国国家公共电台 NPR They Comfort Strangers, So No One Dies Alone

 

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's Friday, which means¹ we hear from StoryCorps. Many of us spent Thanksgiving with family and friends. And today, we have a story about those who are alone. David Wynn and Carolyn Lyon volunteer at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, Calif. And when patients who are near death do not have loved ones to be with them, David and Carolyn step in.

CAROLYN LYON: They have no one for various reasons. You know, they've outlived family. They've never married.

DAVID WYNN: For some reason, I always wonder about the person's mother. She saw him first, and I saw him last. It was her and me that are the bookends of this person's life. So each time that I leave a patient who has died, there is this element² of sadness. But I remember this one gentleman that I was with. The nurses said that he was estranged³ from his family. And I was sitting there with him. And I heard somebody at the door. Turns out it's his son. And he, I guess, felt a little bit uncomfortable, and so he asked me to stay. And then his sister came in. And these are people who hadn't seen each other in maybe 10 or 20 years. They were apologizing to each other.

I remember the daughter saying, you know, I don't even know why I was angry at you. I don't even remember. And they made this reconciliation⁴ at the very end of his life like that. And they said, we're going to try to be a family again. You know, we talk about the last senses to go would be the sense of touch and hearing. And I hope that there was enough left of the dad that he had some sense that this bad situation had been healed⁵ through his death. And I felt like, you know, just this feeling of honor⁶ that I was part of this.

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INSKEEP: David Wynn and Carolyn Lyon for StoryCorps in Santa Ana, Calif. Their story will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress⁷. Remember, StoryCorps' Great Thanksgiving Listen is this week. If you would like to record with your loved ones, you can find out how by going to thegreatlisten.org.

1 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

2 element   

n.元素；组成部分，成分；零件，元件

参考例句：

• Justice is an important element of good government.公正是仁政的要素。
• Carbon is an element,while carbon dioxide is a compound.碳是一种(化学)元素，而二氧化碳则是一种化合物。

3 estranged   

adj.疏远的，分离的

参考例句：

• He became estranged from his family after the argument.那场争吵后他便与家人疏远了。
• The argument estranged him from his brother.争吵使他同他的兄弟之间的关系疏远了。

4 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

5 healed   

v.（使）愈合( heal的过去式和过去分词 )；治愈；（使）结束；较容易忍受

参考例句：

• The surgeon healed the soldier's bullet wound in the leg. 医生治好了那位士兵腿部的枪伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The doctor applied an unguent to the wound,which speedily healed it. 医生给伤口涂了些油膏，伤口很快就愈合了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

7 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。