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Elizabeth Edwards --- 一個偉大的女性離去了！

(2010-12-09 11:05:41) 下一個

Elizabeth Edwards --- 一個偉大的女性離去了！

Elizabeth Edwards 於本星期二去世了，是在僅僅停止癌症治療之後的兩個時停止呼吸的，享年 61 歲。除了已經成年的大女兒，還留下兩個隻有 10 和 12 歲的兒女。

無數哀傷的歎息抒發在 2010 年 12 月 7 日這一刻。克林頓說：“她的逝世使美國失去了一個象征著力量、希望和人性，一個為所有美國人的健康保健事業持續不倦的倡導者，以及一個與癌症進行英勇不屈的戰鬥的勇士。” (“America's lost a symbol of strength, hope, and humanity, a tireless advocate for health care for all Americans, and a determined crusader for cancer cures.”)

因為斷斷續續地在新聞上見過她，還有曾閱讀過她的著作： Resilience, 我為她的離去深感哀痛。一般人提起她，首先想到的是她的前夫 --- 美國 2004 屆總統候選人 John Edwards. 但是那個在她癌症纏身時移情別戀並生下私生子的男人永遠在我心中被歸入卑鄙下流一類了。

在我心中，能與她相提並論的，就隻有 Randy Pausch ，一個以起最後的演說 (Achieving Your Childhood Dreams) 感動了全世界的樂觀堅強的癌症鬥士。伊麗莎白，她不懷戀孩童的夢想，而是以無比的優雅、勇氣和尊嚴，去跟殘酷的命運抗爭。

年輕時的伊麗莎白是美麗智慧的女性，同樣是律師，她比希拉裏還漂亮。小時候家裏窮，她的房間小得放下床就關不上門，所以她發誓一定要住進可以隨便舒展自由跳舞的大房子裏。她無疑是做到了，她不僅做過律師，也是教師、作家和商人。在她彌留之時，她住在占地幾英畝的大房子裏。

這些不算什麽，是普通人也能做得到的。但是後來命運之神對她進行了殘酷的試煉，使她在榮耀與痛苦中萬劫不複，堅強的女人卻絕不屈服。且看：

她的大兒子十六歲死於車禍。因為這件悲劇，她放棄了律師工作，沒有再回到過她的律師辦公室，連私人物品也沒回去拿。她成立了以兒子名字命名的基金會，而且不知是否出於彌補的心理，她於 48 和 50 歲的高齡，又生了一兒一女，因為她發現，人生最大的喜悅莫過於身為父母的快樂。而且，在重作母親時，她為幼年的孩子付出了全部的愛及無比的耐心。她在談到 “ Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of facing Life's Adventures ” 時說：

The gifts are that, you know, you are reminded time and again. And the easiest example is with Wade's death because it's not so -- there's not so many other parts of it. When Wade died, it was terrible burden. But it also reminded you both of the fact that you need to grab hold of each day. You couldn't just take each day for granted. You had to make each day matter, make each interchange with people you cared about matter.
In my family, my dysfunctional family it was lots of, "I love yous," lots of hugs, lots of constant reminders that we cared about one another. And I think that was a gift Wade gave us. I think he, you know, he made us understand that it was really important.
Emma Claire when she was a baby had colic and cried for hours and hours. I could just rock her and sing to her for hours and hours even though she screamed back at me the whole time because I thought if this were Wade and I got to hold him but he was crying, would it be OK with me? You bet.
And you've got to understand that even if she's crying, it's a gift, this moment that I have. And so you can learn things from each thing that's bad, there's always something to be learned from it.

當她發現自己患了癌症時，她的丈夫競選總統的工作正如火如荼，她獨子忍受了好幾個星期不把這壞消息告訴他，以免影響他的情緒。在知道自己日子不多時，她想到的是孩子們。她想要再有八年的時間，好讓她能把孩子養育成人。隻有再能有 8 年的時間，她的小兒子就可以是 18 歲，那麽她就可以清楚看到他會長成怎麽樣的一個人。

在她與癌症艱難作戰的日子裏，她的丈夫移情別戀。她最終以優雅的姿勢把那個漂亮耀眼的他輕輕關在了門外。“ But finally, at the end of 2009, I realized I could not simply wish us to some halcyon final days. I decided that I do not want to be that person hoping for a day that may never come, that sad, bitter, unhappy person. Finally, I've take then steps I need to take to never be that person. It's one of the things I left behind when I closed that door behind John. ”

要知道一個人的品德如何，是要看她 / 他麵對最艱難的困境時，是否仍然能保持有智、仁、勇之德。伊麗莎白是這麽說的：

" The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And, yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human.
But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful ."

讓我們向這個優雅、仁愛，英勇不屈的偉大女性致敬！