I grew up very poor and with a single mom in the throws of addiction. Often there was no money for food, and I was hungry a lot.
我從小家境貧寒,只有一個(gè)吸毒成癮的媽媽。我們經(jīng)常沒(méi)錢買吃的,我總是饑腸轆轆。
On my fifth birthday (1986), a couple close family members were invited to go to a park to celebrate my birthday. No cake, no presents, not a problem. Except for my auntie. She had an envelope in her hand.
在我5歲生日時(shí)(1986年),幾個(gè)親戚被邀請(qǐng)到一個(gè)公園給我過(guò)生日。沒(méi)有蛋糕、沒(méi)有禮物、也沒(méi)有任何問(wèn)題。只有我的姑姑是個(gè)例外,她手里拿著一個(gè)信封。
Before everyone sang happy birthday, I saw a little boy, probably my age, and a woman, digging in the park dumpster for food. Something happened to me. I begged my mom to invite them to my party but my mother was not a fan of strangers. She said no.
在大家唱生日快樂(lè)歌之前,我看到一個(gè)小男孩,年紀(jì)大概和我相仿,還有一個(gè)女的,他們?cè)诠珗@的垃圾箱里找吃的。我突發(fā)奇想,請(qǐng)求媽媽邀請(qǐng)他們來(lái)我的生日聚會(huì),但媽媽不喜歡陌生人,她沒(méi)同意。
I was intrigued, I didn't know others struggled like me, it hurt my heart. I watched them as everyone sang. I watched them when my auntie handed me an envelope. I watched them as I opened it until I saw the contents, a crisp 100 dollar bill. My mother was enraged that my auntie would give me such a large amount of money. I think my auntie trusted me more than my mother with cash.
我被他們吸引了,我不知道還有人跟我一樣掙扎著過(guò)日子,這使我的心很疼。大家唱歌時(shí)我看著他們,姑姑遞給我信封時(shí)我看著他們,我打開(kāi)信封時(shí)依舊看著他們,突然我發(fā)信封里裝著一張褶皺的100美元紙幣。媽媽很生氣姑姑竟然給我這么多錢,我覺(jué)著在花錢方面姑姑比媽媽更信任我。
We were poor, I didn't eat 3 days a week, I had a very hard childhood. But I had never dug in a dumpster for food.
我們很窮,一個(gè)星期里有3天吃不上飯,我的童年過(guò)得很苦,但從來(lái)沒(méi)有翻垃圾箱找吃的。
My auntie kept talking over my mother, telling me, I can do ANYTHING I want with that money. So I did. I walked to the dumpster to the boy and his mother. I explained to the boy that it was my birthday and my one present was a $100, and I wanted to give it to them. There were so many tears and thank yous.
姑姑一直在說(shuō)服媽媽,她告訴我我能隨意支配這筆錢,所以我就自己拿主意了。我朝垃圾箱旁邊的男孩和他媽媽走過(guò)去,我向男孩解釋說(shuō)那天是我的生日,我收到了 $100的禮物,我想把錢給他們。他們感動(dòng)得痛哭流涕,說(shuō)了很多感謝的話。
I, and my auntie, understood how powerful it was to give the only money I've ever seen away. My mother never did. I paid dearly for the action that night. But it was worth it.
我和姑姑理解把自己見(jiàn)過(guò)的唯一的錢給別人對(duì)自己有多大影響,媽媽卻從未有過(guò)這種感覺(jué)。那天晚上我為自己的行為付出了巨大的代價(jià),但一切都值得。
I think about that boy and his mother often.
我經(jīng)常會(huì)想起那個(gè)男孩和他的媽媽。