When did you know your parents were one of the good ones?
When did you know your parents were one of the good ones?
Jean-Marie Valheur , married, father of threeDec 4
792.6k Views · 20.1k Upvotes
When I went to the house of my richest friend. I was in elementary school at the time. The boy’s family lived in an enormous mansion. It was grand. It was glorious. Every nook and cranny of that building seemed to exude power, wealth, success. Walking up to the main door, I was utterly in awe of the size of… everything.
Then I went inside. And it was… empty. Not literally empty, there were chairs, sofas, the largest television set I had ever seen and some lamps. But the house had no books. The house had few pictures. And there were no parents to be seen.
I asked were my friends’ father was? At work, the answer went. He was always at work. His mother was “sick”, on bed with a headache.
Every time I was there, and I was there five or six times, dad was away at work, mom was sick with a headache. Looking back I’m almost certain the woman was an alcoholic. The man a workaholic. My friend was raised more or less by his older siblings.
Our house was small. Our families deeply involved. Life was simple… but it felt full. Theirs, though outwardly grand, felt empty. Just visiting that eery house a handful of times reminded me of how good I had it.
▌评论:
Edie:
My favorite place to live while growing up was with my Grandmother. She had a small barely 1,200 ft farmette w/1 bathroom. Many of my aunts and uncles (5 of them) still lived at home and a cousin who was my age also lived with her. The house was crowded, loud and full of love, laughs and great food. It was absolute bliss for me.
I feel you! My own grandparents’ home, too, was a magical place. It was big. But full. So many items, so many photos, so many artifacts, each with their own unique story. There were always people going in and out, neighbors dropping by, uncles visiting, cousins parking the bikes in the drive way and relaxing in the sun in the garden behind their house… a magical place, a grandparents’ home. Don’t know how that works. It somehow just is.
▌词汇:
- enormous: very big in size or in amount〔尺寸、数量〕巨大的，庞大的
- mansion: a very large house 宅第，公馆
- nook: a small quiet place which is sheltered by a rock, a big tree etc〔岩石、大树等遮挡的〕隐蔽处
- cranny: a small narrow hole in a wall or rock〔墙上或岩石上的〕裂缝，缝隙
- every nook and cranny: every part of a place 到处，四处: We searched every nook and cranny.我们搜遍了每个角落。
- exude: if you exude a particular quality, it is easy to see that you have a lot of it 充分显露〔某一品质〕: She exudes self-confidence. 她显得信心十足。
- be/stand in awe of sb also hold sb in awe: to admire someone and have great respect for them and sometimes a slight fear of them对某人非常崇敬（敬畏）: All of the neighbors were a little in awe of my mother. 邻居对我母亲都有点敬畏。
- actively / deeply / heavily involved: (= involved very much )积极参与: Mrs. Cummings has been actively involved with the church for years. 卡明斯太太积极参与教会事务有好几年了。
- eery: /‘iəri/ adj. 怪诞的；可怕的；奇异的；恐惧的（等于eerie）
- farmette: (带有房舍的)小农场
- bliss: perfect happiness or enjoyment 极乐，无上幸福，福佑，至福:
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