女兒13年暑假在杜克Tip夏令營寫作課堂上的一篇練習作文，得到了老師的好評。文章有真實經曆。女兒的姨姥那時候剛剛乳腺癌去世不久，她一生生活不幸，早年離婚，多年來一直獨身把兒子撫養長大，而兒子在結婚後也不太認她。女兒在很小時候由她姨姥帶過一段時間，有點印象，後來的許多事情都是經我們經常敘說，給她可能留下很深印象。她的題目和內容意境挺好，想表達的是人的一生盡管有酸有苦，但也有非常美好的東西令人難忘。後來她查閱了一些當年反右運動和文革的曆史資料又重新以此創作了更長篇的一個故事，名字叫Wilted Flowers枯萎的花，並加進了產生她姨姥不幸命運的背景原因，一些和她姨姥的父親一個被關牛棚二十年的老知識分子右派的故事，來反映那一段給很多家庭帶來痛苦磨難的不幸日子。
Sweet Lemons
When life gives you lemons, sometimes they never go away.
My great aunt had never had an easy life. She was born the second child of a family of five kids, and she never went to bed with a full stomach. When she was barely ten, her father was forced by the government to do military service.
He tearfully left his kids and wife. None of them knew they wouldn’t see their father again for twenty years.
“Of course, it was hard when my husband left,” said her mother. “But it didn’t mean we weren’t a family anymore. I still have five kids I can be proud of.”
For the rest of her childhood, my great aunt was raised by her mother, who scraped an earning working at the local bank. She worked hard for her mother at part time jobs, often in late hours. Because of that, she was bullied in school for her dirty clothes, and she struggled to keep up with her homework. Still, she didn’t give up for her loving family, pledging to be there for them no matter what happened to her.
“She’s just…really kind,” said one of her brothers when they were younger. “She would always give us her meal first, and she worked through entire nights for us.”
When her mother could no longer support her, my great aunt married her childhood sweetheart at a young age. However, her mother never approved of the marriage.
“He isn’t the right man for my daughter,” she used to say. “I don’t trust him.”
But my great aunt stubbornly refused to listen.
“I love him,” she had insisted. For the first couple months, she lived her fairy tale, touring China with her new husband. But over time, resentment grew between them. They had a bitter divorce, and he left soon after, leaving her with her newborn son.
For years afterwards, she raised her son alone in a small apartment. Even as she struggled financially, she never failed to visit me, always bringing a huge packet of snacks and toys along with her.
“I love you.” There was a recording of me saying. “You bring me lots of stuff!”
The next time I saw her, her hair had turned snowy white and she had lost weight. Her mind had also changed, finally wearing down from years of heartbreak and difficulties.
“There’s a man following me,” she always whispered, looking nervously over her shoulder.
The sight of her saddened me. This was no longer the lively woman I knew when I was little, carefree and loving, never worrying about anything. Her old self was almost gone now, leaving only her bitter memories of her old husband and her grown son that abandoned her.
Still, she brought me the same snacks and toys she had over six years ago, this part of her never changing.
Just a year later, I found out my great aunt had gotten breast cancer.
“We can’t help her,” said my relatives in China. It shocked me that they barely tried, barely wanted to help. She passed away alone and isolated in the apartment she lived in most of her life.
It hurt that I was too far away to help, but also comforting that she was in a better place. I hope she still remembers the words I said when I was young, that she will always remember. “I love you.”
Maybe lemons can be sweet, after all.
甜檸檬
當生活給你檸檬時，有時它會永遠會伴隨著你的一生。
我的姨姥就是這樣，一生中永遠都生活的不容易。她是家裏五個孩子的第二個孩子，她小時候從來沒有在上床前吃飽過肚子。當她差不多十歲的時候，她的父親被政府送到農村去勞動改造。她父親流著眼淚離開了妻子和孩子們，沒人想到這一去他們竟然二十年都沒有見到父親。
“當然，當我丈夫離開的時候，我們生活非常艱難”，她母親說。“但是那並不意味著我們再不是一個家庭了，我依然為我的五個孩子驕傲。”
在我姨姥隨後的童年時期，她是她的媽媽在一家當地銀行零星打工把她和其他孩子撫養大的。她也抽時間非常努力的幫助她媽媽
工作，經常忙到深夜。她經常因為在學校穿的很髒而受到嘲笑和欺負，但她依然努力的完成她的家庭作業。是的，她依然沒有放棄她心愛的家庭，盡力和他們在一起，無論發生什麽事情。
“她的確非常...好”，她的一位弟弟回憶起當時年輕時的情景說。“她總是在吃飯時先讓我們吃，而她為了我們常常忙碌一個晚上。”
當她的媽媽不能在支持他們的時候，我的姨姥和她童年時的甜心結婚了，這時她還很年輕。然而，她的母親從來都不同意那門婚姻。
“他不是我女兒所應該要的男人，”，她母親常常這麽說。“我根本就不信任他。”
但是我姨姥聽不進去母親的的意見，固執地拒絕了她母親的反對。
“我愛他，” 她堅持說。在開始的幾個月裏，她過著童話般的生活，和他的新婚祝福周遊全國。但慢慢地，他們之間產生了相互的不滿。然後，她就痛苦的開始離婚，而他丈夫很快就離開了她，留給她剛剛出生不久的兒子。
在隨後的日子裏，她住在一個小小公寓裏，含辛茹苦的撫養她的孩子。即使在她經濟最困難的時候，她從來沒有說不來看我。每次她來的時候，總給我帶一包小吃和玩具。
“我愛你。” 我的腦海裏總記得我對她這樣說。"你又給我帶來了這麽多東西！“
後來又一次見她的時候，她的頭發已經變得雪白了，還瘦了許多。終於，經曆多年的傷心痛苦和艱難生活，她的精神好像也出來問題。
”總有人在我背後跟著我“，她開始常常低聲的說，不時精神緊張地往後看。
她的情景使我非常難過。她已經不再是我小時候所認識的那個活潑的女人了。她一下子衰老了許多，她的前夫給她留下了痛苦的回憶，她慢慢長大的兒子也拋棄了她。
然而，她依然每次來看我時給我帶來同樣的小吃和玩具，前後六年多，重來沒有改變。
一年後，她被查出了乳腺癌。
”我們幫不了她。”，她中國的親戚們都說。我很震驚他們中沒有人嚐試著幫她。不久，她孤獨地在她住了大半生的公寓裏麵去世。
我非常傷心，我離的太遠了，幫不上忙。但我總是心裏安慰自己說她到了一個更好的地方。我希望她一直記得我小時候給她說的她永遠不會忘記的話。“我愛你！”
也許，檸檬也有甜味。
