美国国家公共电台 NPR 2 Vets Celebrate Love: 'If You Came To See The Bride, You're Out Of Luck'

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Today, an early Valentine's Day card from StoryCorps. This is a conversation between two senior citizens. One is 100 years old, the other a sprightly¹ 72. Both are veterans². One served in World War II, the other Vietnam. And together they live in a veterans home in Chula Vista³, Calif. They sat down for StoryCorps.

JERRY NADEAU: So I start with my name and all that stuff⁴? OK. We'll see how it works⁵. Hello. My name is Jerry Nadeau. I'm with John Banvard.

JOHN BANVARD: And I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.

NADEAU: No, no, no, no. You got to say your name and everything. Hello, my name is...

BANVARD: Hello. My name is John Banvard. I am 100 years of age.

NADEAU: When I first met you, John, you were 75 years old. What would it have been like if you didn't meet me?

BANVARD: I would have continued being lonely. I'd been absolutely lost.

NADEAU: When we met, we were sort of in the closet.

BANVARD: Yeah.

NADEAU: And I never had a real relationship. Now we've been together almost 25 years. And when we moved into the veterans home, we moved in together. And a lot of people were wondering, I wonder what their relationship is.

BANVARD: Yes.

NADEAU: Well, when we got married, they knew what our relationship was.

(LAUGHTER)

BANVARD: I was expecting we'd be ridiculed⁶, and there was very little of that.

NADEAU: We'd gotten married at the veterans home. And we said, if you came to see the bride, you're out of luck. Do you remember that?

(LAUGHTER)

BANVARD: Yes, of course.

NADEAU: It was very informal.

BANVARD: It was done simply, yes.

NADEAU: We served hot dogs.

BANVARD: Which is hardly wedding food.

NADEAU: Remember, John, I was with you in the cafeteria and somebody came up, and they were with their family. And they said, oh, this is Gerard Nadeau, and this is his husband, John. I'd never heard that before.

BANVARD: Yeah, that was very nice.

NADEAU: You've made my life complete.

BANVARD: I could say the same thing to you. I think we're probably as happy together as any two people you're likely to meet.

(SOUNDBITE OF NICK JAINA'S "MISSISSIPPI TURN-AROUND")

GREENE: Wow. Thank you guys. You have made our day a lot better. That's 100-year-old John Banvard with his husband, 72-year-old Jerry Nadeau at StoryCorps in La Mesa, Calif. They were married in 2013. Their conversation will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress⁷. And you can hear more love stories on the StoryCorps Valentine's Day podcast.

(SOUNDBITE OF NICK JAINA'S "MISSISSIPPI TURN-AROUND")

1 sprightly   

adj.愉快的，活泼的

参考例句：

• She is as sprightly as a woman half her age.她跟比她年轻一半的妇女一样活泼。
• He's surprisingly sprightly for an old man.他这把年纪了，还这么精神，真了不起。

2 veterans   

经验丰富的人，老兵( veteran的名词复数 )； 退伍军人

参考例句：

• Some veterans of the two world wars gathered to celebrate their victory. 一些经历了两次世界大战的退伍军人欢聚庆祝胜利。
• Seasoned veterans were picked to storm the difficult enemy position. 有经验的老兵被挑选出来去突袭难攻的敌军阵地。

3 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

4 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

5 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

6 ridiculed   

v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败，代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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。