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I believe that families are not only blood relatives, but sometimes just people that show up and love you when no one else will.
In May, 1977, I lived in a 1)Howard Johnson’s motel off of Interstate 10 in Houston. My dad and I shared a room with two double beds and a bathroom way too small for a modest 15-year-old girl and her father. Dad’s second marriage was in trouble and my stepmother had kicked us both out of the house the previous week. Dad had no idea what to do with me. And that’s when my other family showed up.
Barbara and Roland Beach took me into their home because their only daughter, Su, my best friend, asked them to. I lived with them for the next seven years.
Barb 2)starched my drill team skirts same as Su’s. She made sure I had lunch money, doctors’ appointments, help with homework, Jordache jeans, 3)puka shell necklaces and nightly hugs. Barbara and Roland attended every football game where Su and I marched, every drama performance I was in even when I had no speaking lines. As far as I could tell, for the Beaches, there was no difference between Su and me: I was their daughter, too.
When Su and I left for rival colleges, they kept my room the same for the entire four years I attended school. Recently, Barb presented me with an insurance policy they bought when I first moved in with them and had continued to pay on for 23 years.
The Beaches knew all about me when they took me in. When I was seven, my mother died of a 4)self-inflicted gunshot wound and from then on my father relied on other people to raise his kids. By the time I went to live with the Beaches, I believed that life was entirely unfair and that love was 5)tenuous and untrustworthy. I believed that the only person who would take care of me was me.
Without the Beaches, I would have become a bitter, 6)cynical woman. They gave me a home that allowed me to grow and change. They kept me from being paralyzed by my past, and they gave me the confidence to open my heart.
I believe in family. For me, it wasn’t the family that was there on the day I was born, but the one that was there for me when I was living in a Howard Johnson’s on Interstate 10.
我深信家人不仅仅是血亲。有的时候，有人会在无人愿意伸出援手的时候出现在你的身边，让你感受到爱，那也是家人。
在1977年的5月，我住在休斯顿十号州际公路旁的豪生汽车旅馆里。我跟我爸爸共用一个有两张双人床和一个洗手间的房间，这房间对于一个正常的15岁女孩子和她爸爸来说实在是太小了。那时，我爸爸的第二次婚姻触礁了。之前一周，我后母把我们父女俩赶了出来。爸爸不知道该拿我如何是好。正在这个时候，我的另一个家庭出现了。
芭芭拉·比奇和罗兰·比奇夫妇两人把我接到他们家里，而这仅仅是应我最要好的朋友——他们唯一的女儿苏的请求。从此，我与他们一起生活了达七年之久。
芭布浆洗我跟苏的训练队服，她做到让我每天都有吃午饭的钱，安排我看医生，解答我的功课难题，给我买约达西牛仔裤、珠贝项链，每晚睡前都会给我一个晚安拥抱。芭芭拉和罗兰出席了我跟苏的每一次足球比赛，观看我参演的每一次表演，即使我在戏中连一句对白都没有时也不例外。对我而言，比奇夫妇对待我跟苏一视同仁：我也是他们的女儿。
后来，我和苏离开家，分别上了两所对手大学。比奇夫妇在我读书的四年时间里，把我的房间保持原样。最近，芭布给了我一份保险，那是我刚开始搬到他们家时他们给我买的，他们不间断地付了23年保险费。
比奇夫妇在接收我的时候，就了解我的一切。在我七岁的时候，我母亲就死于自己造成的枪伤，从那个时候起，我的爸爸就靠其他人帮他抚养孩子。我开始与比奇这一家人住的时候，我相信生活根本就是不公平的，爱是虚无飘渺、靠不住的。我认为能够照顾好我的人就只有我自己。
我的生活中如果没有了比奇这一家人，我就会变成一个满腹牢骚、愤世嫉俗的女人。但他们给了我一个让我可以成长、可以改变自己的家，他们没有让我的过去成为我生活的障碍，他们给了我打开心扉的勇气。
我相信家庭。对我来说，家人并不是我出生的那天在等着我的人，而是在我住在十号州际公路旁的豪生汽车旅馆时，向我敞开胸怀的那个“安乐窝”。
翻译：Portia
In May, 1977, I lived in a 1)Howard Johnson’s motel off of Interstate 10 in Houston. My dad and I shared a room with two double beds and a bathroom way too small for a modest 15-year-old girl and her father. Dad’s second marriage was in trouble and my stepmother had kicked us both out of the house the previous week. Dad had no idea what to do with me. And that’s when my other family showed up.
Barbara and Roland Beach took me into their home because their only daughter, Su, my best friend, asked them to. I lived with them for the next seven years.
Barb 2)starched my drill team skirts same as Su’s. She made sure I had lunch money, doctors’ appointments, help with homework, Jordache jeans, 3)puka shell necklaces and nightly hugs. Barbara and Roland attended every football game where Su and I marched, every drama performance I was in even when I had no speaking lines. As far as I could tell, for the Beaches, there was no difference between Su and me: I was their daughter, too.
When Su and I left for rival colleges, they kept my room the same for the entire four years I attended school. Recently, Barb presented me with an insurance policy they bought when I first moved in with them and had continued to pay on for 23 years.
The Beaches knew all about me when they took me in. When I was seven, my mother died of a 4)self-inflicted gunshot wound and from then on my father relied on other people to raise his kids. By the time I went to live with the Beaches, I believed that life was entirely unfair and that love was 5)tenuous and untrustworthy. I believed that the only person who would take care of me was me.
Without the Beaches, I would have become a bitter, 6)cynical woman. They gave me a home that allowed me to grow and change. They kept me from being paralyzed by my past, and they gave me the confidence to open my heart.
I believe in family. For me, it wasn’t the family that was there on the day I was born, but the one that was there for me when I was living in a Howard Johnson’s on Interstate 10.
我深信家人不仅仅是血亲。有的时候，有人会在无人愿意伸出援手的时候出现在你的身边，让你感受到爱，那也是家人。
在1977年的5月，我住在休斯顿十号州际公路旁的豪生汽车旅馆里。我跟我爸爸共用一个有两张双人床和一个洗手间的房间，这房间对于一个正常的15岁女孩子和她爸爸来说实在是太小了。那时，我爸爸的第二次婚姻触礁了。之前一周，我后母把我们父女俩赶了出来。爸爸不知道该拿我如何是好。正在这个时候，我的另一个家庭出现了。
芭芭拉·比奇和罗兰·比奇夫妇两人把我接到他们家里，而这仅仅是应我最要好的朋友——他们唯一的女儿苏的请求。从此，我与他们一起生活了达七年之久。
芭布浆洗我跟苏的训练队服，她做到让我每天都有吃午饭的钱，安排我看医生，解答我的功课难题，给我买约达西牛仔裤、珠贝项链，每晚睡前都会给我一个晚安拥抱。芭芭拉和罗兰出席了我跟苏的每一次足球比赛，观看我参演的每一次表演，即使我在戏中连一句对白都没有时也不例外。对我而言，比奇夫妇对待我跟苏一视同仁：我也是他们的女儿。
后来，我和苏离开家，分别上了两所对手大学。比奇夫妇在我读书的四年时间里，把我的房间保持原样。最近，芭布给了我一份保险，那是我刚开始搬到他们家时他们给我买的，他们不间断地付了23年保险费。
比奇夫妇在接收我的时候，就了解我的一切。在我七岁的时候，我母亲就死于自己造成的枪伤，从那个时候起，我的爸爸就靠其他人帮他抚养孩子。我开始与比奇这一家人住的时候，我相信生活根本就是不公平的，爱是虚无飘渺、靠不住的。我认为能够照顾好我的人就只有我自己。
我的生活中如果没有了比奇这一家人，我就会变成一个满腹牢骚、愤世嫉俗的女人。但他们给了我一个让我可以成长、可以改变自己的家，他们没有让我的过去成为我生活的障碍，他们给了我打开心扉的勇气。
我相信家庭。对我来说，家人并不是我出生的那天在等着我的人，而是在我住在十号州际公路旁的豪生汽车旅馆时，向我敞开胸怀的那个“安乐窝”。
翻译：Portia