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A Touch of Heaven 天堂的触摸
◎ Tim Reynolds
It had been a very disheartening day. The doctors had given us the worst of news. Our daughter,
treatments, was now officially given a two percent chance of survival as this type of cancer had no
cure.
conversations. We went to a local restaurant where we sat in silence waiting for the waitress. Our
daughter Molly wouldn’t hear of such sadness or silence so she played happily with crayons and
paper while we sat and stared at the floor.
I noticed a very elderly couple sitting a few booths away, they too in silence never speaking a
word. I couldn’t help but wonder what challenges they had faced in their life and if they ever faced
such terrible news about a child of theirs.
We eventually ordered our lunch and still sitting in silence we ate what we could. At some point
thought to myself that they hadn’t yet spoken to each other and I wondered if it was the peace they
were enjoying or the food or maybe both. However, at some point I lost interest and put my focus
back on my lunch.
Molly was still talking away and enjoying her meal and her mom and I both listened and tried to
be happy in her presence but it wasn’t going very well. All of a sudden I saw this hand come out of
nowhere. It was huge and I could tell that it had been afflicted5 with arthritis6. The knuckles7 were
swollen8 and the fingers were crooked9 and off center. I couldn’t take my eyes of that hand. The hand
drifted down and landed on my daughter’s tiny six year old hand and as it did I looked up; it was the
old woman who had been sitting with the old man in silence eating their lunch.
whispered, “If I could do more for you I would.” And then she smiled and moved away to join her
husband who had moved towards the door.
I heard a “Hey look, a whole dollar.” Molly spoke with excitement as she discovered that the old
lady had placed a crumpled10 one dollar bill on the back of her hand. I looked down and saw the dollar
bill and quickly realized that it had been left behind by the old lady. I looked up to thank her, but she
was gone. I sat stunned11, not sure what had just happened and then I looked over at my wife. In almost
and generous touch of an old lady.
The dollar, although exciting to Molly, was not what made us smile or begin to feel differently,
it was the offer from an old lady who felt our hurt and our suffering. The crippled hand symbolized13 a
healing touch and made us realize that we did not have to fight this battle alone; that others cared and
wanted to help. We felt up-lifted and soon our day filled with more happy thoughts as we spent the
rest of our lunch planning the next day at home with fun filled activities for everyone.
I will never forget that crippled arthritic14 hand that taught us such an important lesson. One does
not have to go through life facing hardships all alone; the world is full of compassionate15 and
understanding people. Even those that are suffering from their own afflictions have much to give to
each other.
The hand that covered Molly’s on that day still covers it. And although Molly is no longer with
me, I can see her holding hands with that old lady now, both hands perfect and both faces filled with
smiles and laughter. And though Heaven has these two perfect angels now, the lessons that they both
taught me will remain forever in my heart.
这是一个相当令人沮丧的一天。医生刚刚带给我们一个最坏的消息。我们的女儿，她刚
刚结束她的首次大脑肿瘤切除手术，目前正处于放疗期，而现在正式宣布只有百分之二十的
存活率，因为这种类型的癌症已经没法治愈了。
在继续我们下午的会谈之前，我和妻子决定先带女儿去吃午饭。我们去了当地一家餐
馆，安静地坐在那儿等着服务员。我们的女儿莫莉不愿意气氛这么悲伤或沉默，于是当我们
坐在那儿盯着地板时，她很开心地用蜡笔在纸上涂鸦。
我注意到有一对老夫妇坐在不远处，他们也处于沉默之中，从头到尾没说一句话。我不
禁想知道他们的生活面临着怎样的挑战，是否也曾在他们孩子身上发生过这种可怕的事情。
最后，我们点的午饭送来了，然后依旧默默无语地坐着，把能吃的通通都吃了。在某些
方面，我开始变得感兴趣——每过一分钟，我就更专心地看着那对老夫妇。我暗自想，他们
还没有开口说话，这到底是他们喜欢的一种和平宁静，还是在享受食物，或者是两者兼而有
之。然而，在另一方面，我却失去了兴趣，然后把我的注意力重新转回到午餐上。
莫莉仍旧在不停地说话，享受着她的午餐，而我和她妈妈在一旁听着，想要在她面前表
现出快乐，但我们做得不太好。突然，我看到一只手不断地在我面前显现。这只手极大，我
可以看得出来，它已经患了关节炎。手指关节肿胀，指头从中间部分已经开始扭曲变形。我
不能将我的目光从那只手上移开。手从我眼前落下来，落在我6岁的小小女儿的手上，我抬头
一看，它正是刚刚一直在寂静中吃饭的那个老女人的手。
我望着她的眼睛，然后她开口说话了，不过并不是对我说的。她看着我的女儿，低声说
了一句：“如果我能为你做得更多，我会的。”然后她笑了笑，同她正朝门口走去的丈夫一起
离开了。
我听见了一声“嘿，看哪，一张美元”。莫莉兴奋地说，她发现老妇人在她的手背上留下
了一张皱巴巴的美元钞票。我低头一看，看见这张钞票，马上就意识到是那位老妇人留下
的。我抬起头来想要感谢她，但她已经走远了。我呆坐下来，不知道发生了什么，然后与妻
子互相看了看。几乎是同时，我们俩扑哧一声笑了出来。这一天的悲伤，被那位慷慨的老妇
人那枯皱的手通通消灭了。
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