How Love Endures?

爱如何不停运转？

It's a year I could never have imagined happening, let alone getting through.

这一年我不敢去想发生了什么，更不用说我是如何度过每一天的。

A year since I lost the love of my life, the man I expected to be with forever, the man whose face I still long to see when I wake up in the morning.

一年前，我失去了我的爱人，那个我期盼永远相伴的男人，那个我清晨醒来仍然渴望看到他面容的男人。

My husband, Rick, was the commander of the space shuttle Columbia.

我的丈夫里克，是“哥伦比亚”号航天飞机的机长。

Last February 1 he was supposed to come home to our two kids and me, but instead he went to his eternal home in heaven when the shuttle broke apart in midair over east Texas.

去年 2 月 1 日，他本该回到我们的两个孩子和我的身边，却因航天飞机在得克萨斯东部空中爆炸解体而归向永恒的天国之家。

I had admired Rick since high school. He was a year older, popular and good-looking.

早在中学时，我就对里克倾慕有加。他比我大一岁，讨人喜欢，相貌英俊。

For some couples, it's love at first sight. For Rick and me, it was love at first date. This guy was special. The evening proved it.

有些夫妇是一见钟情，我和里克则是初次约会坠入爱河。这小伙子不一般。那天晚上证实了这一点。

There was none of the first-date awkwardness—not even when he knocked over is water at dinner.

我们毫无初次约会的那种尴尬——甚至在晚餐桌上他把水打翻也不觉得狼狈。

I don't remember a think about the movie we went to except for how right it felt to have his arm around me.

我们去看了电影，可除了感觉他的胳膊搂着我时是多么舒适以外，

Neither of except for how right it felt to have his arm around me. Neither of us wanted the night to end.

电影中的情节我一点也没记住。我俩谁也不愿那个夜晚过去。

We parked by the lake and talked.

我们把车停在一个湖边，聊着天。

That's when Rick told me about his dream of being an astronaut.

就在那时，里克对我讲述了他的梦想：他想当一名航天员。

He had written to NASA for a list of the requirements: a master's degree in science, math or engineering, a good number of hours as a pilot—which was why he was going to the Air Force after graduation.

他给国家航空航天局写信索取报名条件要求表：理科、数学或工学的硕士学位。最好是试飞员，那惊人的飞行时数，这就是他为什么要在毕业后进入空军的缘故。

I was beyond impressed. We dated all through college and got married on February 27, 1982.

我简直钦佩得五体投地。一个具有这样的热情和奉献精神的人正是我愿和他今后共度一生的伴侣。