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长时间的沉默，会让本已不灵活的舌头变得僵硬。
但只要找对钥匙，便能开启那锈迹斑斑的心，窥见他心中的后花园……
“You have no idea what this has meant to me. All these years I never thought you were even interested in what I had to say,” the old man told them.
It’s my 1)getaway. I find the most 2)incredible people and stories in restaurants. Think about it. It’s your family dinner table removed from your kitchen and placed in a public area. Like home, but better. Somebody else is cooking and doing the dishes. So 3)scattered all around me are families having dinner, friends catching up with the latest news, business meetings and people like me just here to relax. Oh, of course. Great conversation.
Except in the 4)booth across from me. Silence.
When I first sat down there were two men sitting together quietly. One man appeared to be in his 30s. He was dressed in some old work clothes and still wearing his baseball cap. The other man I would guess was about 80. ①The lines and 5)creases of his face gave him character. His white hair was 6)messy from wearing a 7)stocking cap he held on top of the table.
But he didn’t look like he was going anywhere. Neither was this conversation.
“8)Boy, I really 9)worked up a hunger today, 10)Pop. All that 11)shoveling and sweeping the snow will do that,” the younger man said.
“Yeah, this is somethin’,” replied the old man.
Silence followed for the longest time.
Suddenly I heard the young man say, “Here they come,” as he pointed toward the doorway.
He almost looked 12)relieved. Somebody who would join in and help get this conversation going.
It appeared to me that the two people who joined them were a mother and teenage grandchild.
“Hello, Dad. Good to see you!” the woman said as she sat down.
“Yep!” the old man replied.
Silence. Even longer gaps than before.
“I feel real good,” the old man said proudly.
“Oh, you look good Dad,” the younger man said. Then one by one the others agreed.
Silence.
The waitress approached and took their breakfast orders.
Grandpa 13)excused himself. “Gotta go to the bathroom. It happens a lot when you’re old,” he said.
As soon as he was out of sight, the younger man said, “God, I don’t know what to say to him. We just sit here looking around. He never talks.”
“I know what you mean. God what do you say?” the woman added.
“He’s old. What do you talk about with an old man?” the kid joined in.
Oh, no. Here I go. I can’t just sit here and listen to this. I’m going to say something and wait to see if they tell me it’s none of my business.
“Ask him about his childhood,” I said as I continued eating.
“What? Pardon me? Were you talking to us, sir?” the woman asked.
“Yes. It’s really not my business, I know. But do you realize what he has to offer you? Can you even begin to understand what this man has seen in his lifetime? ②He most likely has answers to problems you haven’t even discovered as problems in your life. Look, talk to him about his childhood. Ask him what the snows were like back then. He’ll have a million stories to share. He’s not talking because no one is asking,” I told them.
Just then he came walking around the corner.
“Oh, boy. I feel much better now. You know I haven’t been goin’ good in a while,” the old man told them.
OK. So old people also talk about the facts of life. ③And going or not going is a major thing when you’re old. You take the good with the bad.
After a long silence the young girl said, “14)Paw-paw. When you were a kid were the snows this bad?”
“Gees, honey. This is nothing like the snows I had when I was a kid. Did I ever tell you about the snow storm that covered my house?” he asked.
“No, Pop. I don’t think I ever heard that one myself,” said the younger man.
Now for the next 20 minutes the old man was in his glory. At one point he even stood up to show them how high the one snow drift was. Throughout the entire meal everyone 15)chimed in with more questions. They laughed and he 16)lit up like he was on stage and the play he was acting in was his life story.
Just as I was about to leave I heard the old man say, “You have no idea what this has meant to me. All these years I never thought you were even interested in what I had to say.”
“Oh...well, I guess we just didn’t think you wanted to talk,” the woman said.
“Well, nobody 17)bothered to ask me anything. I just figured I was boring or somethin’. It’s been a tough life, you know. Ever since Ma Ma died I really had nothing to say.” He paused for a moment. I could see him nervously 18)wringing his rough life-worn hands together.
“You see, her and I were like a song. I made the music and she...she was the words,” he said.
④Like tough guys of his time are supposed to do, he held back any visible emotion, 19)sniffled and wiping his eye he said, “⑤No sense talkin’ if you ain’t got the words.”
As I turned to walk away I looked across the table. I saw the young girl wave and smile at me as she put her arm around paw-paw’s shoulders.
She didn’t have to say a word.
他脸上的皱纹使他显得很特别。
在你们的人生中，会碰到一些你们现在还未发现的问题，他都很可能有应对之策。
当人生步入老迈之年，总是好一阵，歹一阵。好坏你都得面对。
就像他那个时代坚强的男子汉应该做的那样，老人收起了哪怕一点点可被觉察到的情感，
如果没有了词语，交谈还有什么意义呢？
但只要找对钥匙，便能开启那锈迹斑斑的心，窥见他心中的后花园……
“You have no idea what this has meant to me. All these years I never thought you were even interested in what I had to say,” the old man told them.
It’s my 1)getaway. I find the most 2)incredible people and stories in restaurants. Think about it. It’s your family dinner table removed from your kitchen and placed in a public area. Like home, but better. Somebody else is cooking and doing the dishes. So 3)scattered all around me are families having dinner, friends catching up with the latest news, business meetings and people like me just here to relax. Oh, of course. Great conversation.
Except in the 4)booth across from me. Silence.
When I first sat down there were two men sitting together quietly. One man appeared to be in his 30s. He was dressed in some old work clothes and still wearing his baseball cap. The other man I would guess was about 80. ①The lines and 5)creases of his face gave him character. His white hair was 6)messy from wearing a 7)stocking cap he held on top of the table.
But he didn’t look like he was going anywhere. Neither was this conversation.
“8)Boy, I really 9)worked up a hunger today, 10)Pop. All that 11)shoveling and sweeping the snow will do that,” the younger man said.
“Yeah, this is somethin’,” replied the old man.
Silence followed for the longest time.
Suddenly I heard the young man say, “Here they come,” as he pointed toward the doorway.
He almost looked 12)relieved. Somebody who would join in and help get this conversation going.
It appeared to me that the two people who joined them were a mother and teenage grandchild.
“Hello, Dad. Good to see you!” the woman said as she sat down.
“Yep!” the old man replied.
Silence. Even longer gaps than before.
“I feel real good,” the old man said proudly.
“Oh, you look good Dad,” the younger man said. Then one by one the others agreed.
Silence.
The waitress approached and took their breakfast orders.
Grandpa 13)excused himself. “Gotta go to the bathroom. It happens a lot when you’re old,” he said.
As soon as he was out of sight, the younger man said, “God, I don’t know what to say to him. We just sit here looking around. He never talks.”
“I know what you mean. God what do you say?” the woman added.
“He’s old. What do you talk about with an old man?” the kid joined in.
Oh, no. Here I go. I can’t just sit here and listen to this. I’m going to say something and wait to see if they tell me it’s none of my business.
“Ask him about his childhood,” I said as I continued eating.
“What? Pardon me? Were you talking to us, sir?” the woman asked.
“Yes. It’s really not my business, I know. But do you realize what he has to offer you? Can you even begin to understand what this man has seen in his lifetime? ②He most likely has answers to problems you haven’t even discovered as problems in your life. Look, talk to him about his childhood. Ask him what the snows were like back then. He’ll have a million stories to share. He’s not talking because no one is asking,” I told them.
Just then he came walking around the corner.
“Oh, boy. I feel much better now. You know I haven’t been goin’ good in a while,” the old man told them.
OK. So old people also talk about the facts of life. ③And going or not going is a major thing when you’re old. You take the good with the bad.
After a long silence the young girl said, “14)Paw-paw. When you were a kid were the snows this bad?”
“Gees, honey. This is nothing like the snows I had when I was a kid. Did I ever tell you about the snow storm that covered my house?” he asked.
“No, Pop. I don’t think I ever heard that one myself,” said the younger man.
Now for the next 20 minutes the old man was in his glory. At one point he even stood up to show them how high the one snow drift was. Throughout the entire meal everyone 15)chimed in with more questions. They laughed and he 16)lit up like he was on stage and the play he was acting in was his life story.
Just as I was about to leave I heard the old man say, “You have no idea what this has meant to me. All these years I never thought you were even interested in what I had to say.”
“Oh...well, I guess we just didn’t think you wanted to talk,” the woman said.
“Well, nobody 17)bothered to ask me anything. I just figured I was boring or somethin’. It’s been a tough life, you know. Ever since Ma Ma died I really had nothing to say.” He paused for a moment. I could see him nervously 18)wringing his rough life-worn hands together.
“You see, her and I were like a song. I made the music and she...she was the words,” he said.
④Like tough guys of his time are supposed to do, he held back any visible emotion, 19)sniffled and wiping his eye he said, “⑤No sense talkin’ if you ain’t got the words.”
As I turned to walk away I looked across the table. I saw the young girl wave and smile at me as she put her arm around paw-paw’s shoulders.
She didn’t have to say a word.
他脸上的皱纹使他显得很特别。
在你们的人生中，会碰到一些你们现在还未发现的问题，他都很可能有应对之策。
当人生步入老迈之年，总是好一阵，歹一阵。好坏你都得面对。
就像他那个时代坚强的男子汉应该做的那样，老人收起了哪怕一点点可被觉察到的情感，
如果没有了词语，交谈还有什么意义呢？