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人在面临死亡时，大多恐惧、气愤和失落，而面对同样的情况，查克却在想方设法安慰父母……
Chuck was thirteen when he came home from the hospital. He came home not because he was getting better but be cause he wanted to be with the people he knew and loved when he died.
Oftentimes, a nurse was on duty to help with medications when I came by the house to visit with him and his family. On most of my visits, Chuck was unconscious or groggy1 from the heavy intravenous2 doses of morphine3 he was given for pain control. But the last time I saw him alive, he was awake and remarkably lucid4.
“I got something for you.” He reached under his pillow and withdrew a rolled-up, somewhat crumpled sheaf 5 of papers.
“I want you to give this to my mom and dad after I die. You’ll know when it’s right, I guess. Will you?”
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a list of all the fun we had, all the times we laughed.”
I almost gasped in amazement. With all the fear and anger and disappointment he had every right to be feeling, here he was trying to look out for his parents.
“Like what?” I asked feebly6, trying to regain my composure7.
Chuck grinned, and launched into a story I wouldn’t have thought he had the strength to tell.
“Like the time Mom and Dad and Chrissie and Linda and me were dressed up as Fruits and Dad’s driving us to a costume party. Dad was a bunch of grapes and I was an apple, and the others were different things like bananas and stuff. And Dad gets pulled over for speeding. When the policewoman came up to the car, she looked in and just started laughing really hard. I mean, she could hardly stand up. And we all started laughing and the cop said, ‘Where you all headed—a salad bar?” Dad said he was sorry to be speeding, but his kids were getting so ripe that they were starting to draw flies. And the cop laughed till she had to take off her dark glasses and wipe tears from her eyes. Guess what? She said, ‘Well, get out of here, but go slow; I don’t want to find you squashed8 all over the highway.’” Chuck laughed and so did I.
Later that night, I looked over the pages, reviewing a list that included Disney World, horseback riding, camping, the speeding fruit story, and others, some of which made me laugh out loud. What an incredible gift, I thought. The list ended with a note from Chuck to his parents.
“I know you’re real upset right now that I’m going away, but I don’t want you to forget this stuff. I don’t want you to just remember me being skinny and sick. Think about these things, too, because these are what I remember most. I love you all forever!
查克出院回家时13岁。但出院并非因为他病情好转，而是他希望在弥留之际能和熟识并深爱着的亲人在一起。
有一位护士每天都要来为查克做药疗，我也经常来看望他和他的家人。我来的大多时候，查克都处于昏迷状态，因为护士在他的静脉中注射了大剂量用以止痛的吗啡。但在他去世前我最后一次见到他时，他却是醒着的，而且思维清晰。
“我有件东西给您，”查克对我说。他从枕头下摸出一打卷起来的皱巴巴的纸。
“我想让您在我死后把它交给我的爸爸妈妈。我想，您知道什么时候给他们合适。您愿意吗？”
“这是什么呀？”我问。
“这是一份清单，上面记录着我们曾经共同经历的所有快乐的事情和所有开心的日子。”
我几乎惊呆了。尽管有充分的理由恐惧、气愤和失落，但查克却想方设法安慰父母。
“比如说什么事情呢？”我轻轻地问，努力让自己镇静下来。
查克咧了咧嘴，笑着给我讲述了一个我本以为他没有力气告诉我的故事。
“比如那次爸爸开车带妈妈、克里西和琳达还有我去参加一个化妆舞会。我们化装成各种水果。爸爸是一串葡萄，我是一个苹果，其他人则是香蕉或别的水果。爸爸因超速行驶而被迫将车停在路边。一个女警察走到我们车边，看了看车内，就开始大笑起来。我的意思是，她笑得几乎直不起腰来。我们也跟着哈哈大笑。之后警察问：‘你们这是要去哪儿啊，沙拉酒吧吗？’爸爸说他为超速行驶深感抱歉，但他的孩子们都已经熟透，开始招苍蝇了。警察听完后笑得前仰后合，最后不得不把墨镜摘下来擦眼泪。您猜怎么样？她说：‘好吧，走吧，但要慢点开，我可不想看到你们在高速公路上被轧扁。’”查克笑了，我也笑了。
那天深夜，我翻看了查克的清单，里面有迪斯尼乐园、骑马、野营、超速行驶的水果和其他故事，其中不少让我情不自禁地笑出了声。这是一件多么珍贵的礼物啊，我想。清单的最后是查克留给父母的一封信。
“我知道你们现在肯定因为我的离去而感到很难过，但我不希望你们忘了这些事情。我不希望你们只记得我病得皮包骨头时的样子。我希望你们也记得这些事，因为这些是我记忆中最深刻的。我永远爱你们！”
栾薇 摘译自 Family Life
Chuck was thirteen when he came home from the hospital. He came home not because he was getting better but be cause he wanted to be with the people he knew and loved when he died.
Oftentimes, a nurse was on duty to help with medications when I came by the house to visit with him and his family. On most of my visits, Chuck was unconscious or groggy1 from the heavy intravenous2 doses of morphine3 he was given for pain control. But the last time I saw him alive, he was awake and remarkably lucid4.
“I got something for you.” He reached under his pillow and withdrew a rolled-up, somewhat crumpled sheaf 5 of papers.
“I want you to give this to my mom and dad after I die. You’ll know when it’s right, I guess. Will you?”
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a list of all the fun we had, all the times we laughed.”
I almost gasped in amazement. With all the fear and anger and disappointment he had every right to be feeling, here he was trying to look out for his parents.
“Like what?” I asked feebly6, trying to regain my composure7.
Chuck grinned, and launched into a story I wouldn’t have thought he had the strength to tell.
“Like the time Mom and Dad and Chrissie and Linda and me were dressed up as Fruits and Dad’s driving us to a costume party. Dad was a bunch of grapes and I was an apple, and the others were different things like bananas and stuff. And Dad gets pulled over for speeding. When the policewoman came up to the car, she looked in and just started laughing really hard. I mean, she could hardly stand up. And we all started laughing and the cop said, ‘Where you all headed—a salad bar?” Dad said he was sorry to be speeding, but his kids were getting so ripe that they were starting to draw flies. And the cop laughed till she had to take off her dark glasses and wipe tears from her eyes. Guess what? She said, ‘Well, get out of here, but go slow; I don’t want to find you squashed8 all over the highway.’” Chuck laughed and so did I.
Later that night, I looked over the pages, reviewing a list that included Disney World, horseback riding, camping, the speeding fruit story, and others, some of which made me laugh out loud. What an incredible gift, I thought. The list ended with a note from Chuck to his parents.
“I know you’re real upset right now that I’m going away, but I don’t want you to forget this stuff. I don’t want you to just remember me being skinny and sick. Think about these things, too, because these are what I remember most. I love you all forever!
查克出院回家时13岁。但出院并非因为他病情好转，而是他希望在弥留之际能和熟识并深爱着的亲人在一起。
有一位护士每天都要来为查克做药疗，我也经常来看望他和他的家人。我来的大多时候，查克都处于昏迷状态，因为护士在他的静脉中注射了大剂量用以止痛的吗啡。但在他去世前我最后一次见到他时，他却是醒着的，而且思维清晰。
“我有件东西给您，”查克对我说。他从枕头下摸出一打卷起来的皱巴巴的纸。
“我想让您在我死后把它交给我的爸爸妈妈。我想，您知道什么时候给他们合适。您愿意吗？”
“这是什么呀？”我问。
“这是一份清单，上面记录着我们曾经共同经历的所有快乐的事情和所有开心的日子。”
我几乎惊呆了。尽管有充分的理由恐惧、气愤和失落，但查克却想方设法安慰父母。
“比如说什么事情呢？”我轻轻地问，努力让自己镇静下来。
查克咧了咧嘴，笑着给我讲述了一个我本以为他没有力气告诉我的故事。
“比如那次爸爸开车带妈妈、克里西和琳达还有我去参加一个化妆舞会。我们化装成各种水果。爸爸是一串葡萄，我是一个苹果，其他人则是香蕉或别的水果。爸爸因超速行驶而被迫将车停在路边。一个女警察走到我们车边，看了看车内，就开始大笑起来。我的意思是，她笑得几乎直不起腰来。我们也跟着哈哈大笑。之后警察问：‘你们这是要去哪儿啊，沙拉酒吧吗？’爸爸说他为超速行驶深感抱歉，但他的孩子们都已经熟透，开始招苍蝇了。警察听完后笑得前仰后合，最后不得不把墨镜摘下来擦眼泪。您猜怎么样？她说：‘好吧，走吧，但要慢点开，我可不想看到你们在高速公路上被轧扁。’”查克笑了，我也笑了。
那天深夜，我翻看了查克的清单，里面有迪斯尼乐园、骑马、野营、超速行驶的水果和其他故事，其中不少让我情不自禁地笑出了声。这是一件多么珍贵的礼物啊，我想。清单的最后是查克留给父母的一封信。
“我知道你们现在肯定因为我的离去而感到很难过，但我不希望你们忘了这些事情。我不希望你们只记得我病得皮包骨头时的样子。我希望你们也记得这些事，因为这些是我记忆中最深刻的。我永远爱你们！”
栾薇 摘译自 Family Life