爱,永不太迟 You Are Never Too Old for Love

 My aunt died back in about 2003. She was eighty-four and so was my uncle. When she passed he was devastated¹. They had been married for over 60 years. We expected him to pass on quickly after she died. He attended his church more frequently and his mourning was nearly unbearable² to witness. His only daughter lived clear across the country so he had only the rest of the extended³ family and church family to comfort him. 

我伯母大约在2003年去世。她已是84岁高龄，我伯父与她同龄。伯母的去世对伯父来说是个沉重的打击。他们结婚超过60年了。伯母去世后，我们以为伯父很快也会跟着离开。伯父愈加频繁地去教会，他的悲恸几乎令人不忍目睹。他唯一的女儿一直住在离他很远的另一个地方，因而他只能从家族的远亲以及教会同伴那里寻求慰藉。

My cousin talked him into selling the house that he and my aunt had built together about twenty-five years before. It was very hard to part with the home they built together. He was going to move into an apartment, but at the last moment, my cousin and he saw a new house for sale, that was close to his business. She helped him buy furniture and a flat screen television. He had not watched television for years because of his religion. He was like a kid with a new toy but still grieved⁴ horribly for my aunt. 

我堂姐游说伯父卖掉那栋他和伯母大概在25年前一起建造的房子。要离开他俩一起建造的“家”，这对伯父而言非常艰难。他准备搬进一间公寓，不过就在最后一刻，我堂姐和他看中了一栋待售的新房，而且这房子离伯父的公司很近。堂姐帮伯父买来了家具和一台平板电视机。由于他的宗教信仰，伯父已经很多年没有看电视了。他如同一个拿到一件新玩具的孩子那样开心，不过对于伯母的离去，他还是非常伤心。

One day he called my cousin who was living in Texas and told her that he reconnected with a lady from a church that he and my aunt went to forty years previously⁵. She played piano and his church was looking for new music. Her husband had died about seven years previously. He said he just wanted someone to go out to dinner with and spend time with. We were happy for them but had no idea how it would turn out. They were both almost eighty-seven years old. 

有一天，伯父打电话给我那住在得克萨斯州的堂姐，告诉她说他和一位女士重新取得了联系，而那位女士来自他和伯母40多年前常去的一间教堂。那位女士会弹钢琴，而伯父所在的教会正要找新的音乐伴奏。那位女士的丈夫大约七年前去世了。伯父说，他只是想有个人一起出去吃饭，一起消磨时光。我们很为他们俩高兴，却不知道结果会如何。他们俩都将近87岁高龄。

They were like lovebirds and spent as much time together as they could. They both had one child each, she a son, he a daughter. She had a house that her father built for her when she got married to her first husband. She was content there. 

他们俩如同一对恩爱夫妻一般，尽可能多地在一起共度时光。他们各自都有一个孩子，她有个儿子，而他有个女儿。她有栋房子，是她父亲在她和第一任丈夫结婚时为她建的。她在里面住得很满意。

The other fly in the ointment⁶ was that they were both very busy people. They both still worked! They were in their mid-eighties and both had their own family businesses. She worked for her son who took over the family business and he had his own business. 

另一处美中不足的是，他们俩都是非常忙碌的人。他们俩都仍然在工作!他们都已80多岁，都还有各自的家族生意。她为已经接管了家族生意的儿子工作，而他有自己的公司。

The clash⁷ in their relationship came when they neither wanted to leave their respective⁸ churches. She went to her Baptist church that she had attended for many years and he went to his, which was a Pentecostal. They decided⁹ to remain friends but nothing more. He was broken-hearted, but felt that his religion was the only way. She didn’t want to leave her church and didn’t like the extreme of his. 

他们都不愿意脱离各自的教会，这使得他们的关系出现了冲突。她去的是已经加入多年的浸礼会，而他去的是五旬节派教会。他们决定只做朋友，别无他求。对此，伯父伤心不已，不过他感到自己的信仰是唯一的抚慰方式。而她不想离开自己所在的教会，也不喜欢他的教会那么偏激。不久，两人意识到他们并不想分开。他们要一起加入一个新的教会，并打算结婚。当他带着她前往一家珠宝店给她买钻戒时，那些店员们都非常感动，写了一大篇文章发表在我们当地的报纸上，标题为“情人节‘真谛’”。他们为婚礼做着准备。由于他们俩都迫不及待地想要“在一起”，而不结婚就不是严格意义上的“在一起”，所以他们把婚期提前了。

Before too long they realized that they did not want to be apart. They would find a new church together. They planned to marry. When he took her to a jewelry¹⁰ store and bought her a diamond, the employees were so impressed that they had a big write up in our own local paper, "'The Truth' for Valentines' Day." They prepared for their wedding. They moved the wedding date up because neither wanted to wait any longer to "be together," and it was not proper to "be together" without being married. 

他们在她的房子里举行了婚礼，并决定婚后一起住在那里。这是一件看来如此美好而令人欣喜的事情——两位你原以为已经度过了大半生的老人即将在一起开始新生活。我从未看到我伯父像现在这般快乐幸福。他仍然沉浸在爱河中，而且他们彼此深爱着对方。

They got married in her house, where they decided they would live. It was such a beautiful refreshing¹¹ thing to see, two people who you would have thought had pretty much lived their lives, were beginning a new one together. I have never seen my uncle happier. He is still in love and she loves him as much as he loves her. 

如果你曾认为，寻找真爱对你来说已经太迟，或者你的人生已经结束了，那么你应该多看看像他们俩这样的浪漫故事。他们都还在工作，而且他们现在已经结婚将近两年了。再过两个月，他们俩都将迎来90岁高寿，他们热爱两人在一起的生活。同时，他们仍然维系着各自的家庭、一起去教堂、和他们的家人朋友们一起外出聚餐。寻找真爱永远不会太迟，无论是再一次还是第一次!

1 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

2 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

3 extended   

adj.延伸的；伸展的；延长的；扩大的v.延伸(extend的过去式和过去分词)；伸展；延长

参考例句：

• an extended lunch hour 延长了的午餐时间
• France has greatly extended its influence in world affairs. 在世界事务中，法国的影响已大大地扩大了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 grieved   

伤心的

参考例句：

• He grieved to know that his mother had passed away. 得知母亲去世，他很悲痛。
• The uncalled-for criticism grieved her. 无缘无故的批评使她伤心。

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 ointment   

n.药膏，油膏，软膏

参考例句：

• Your foot will feel better after the application of this ointment.敷用这药膏后，你的脚会感到舒服些。
• This herbal ointment will help to close up your wound quickly.这种中草药膏会帮助你的伤口很快愈合。

7 clash   

vi.冲突，不协调，砰地相撞；n.冲突，不协调

参考例句：

• There is a clash between two classes at 2 p.m. on Thursday.星期四下午两点有两堂课是冲突的。
• The pot came down on the stone floor with a clash.锅“当”地一声掉到石地上。

8 respective   

adj.各自的，各个的

参考例句：

• He and I are each going to visit our respective teachers.我和他分别要去拜访各自的老师。
• All men have their respective duties.各人有各人的职责。

9 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。

10 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

11 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。