My husband is an engineer. Since the day we met, he has always been the rock in my life. I know he had his feet firmly planted on the ground, and it seemed that no matter what else went crazy, he would be the one constant.
Three years of romance and two years of marriage later, I got tired of him. He is the most unromantic1 man I know. He never bought me flowers, he never surprised me, and nothing had changed in our marriage.
After some time, I finally found the courage to tell him that I wanted out. He just sat there, speechless. My heart froze: what kind of man was I married to who didn't even know what to say to make me stay? After a while, he spoke, “What can I do to change your mind?”
“I will stay if you can give me a good answer to this question,” I replied coldly. “If I asked for a flower that grew on a cliff2, and you knew that getting it for me meant certain death, would you still get it for me?”
His face grew troubled. “Can I give you the answer tomorrow morning?” With that, my heart sank. I knew that I could never be happy with a man who couldn't even give me an answer straight away.
The next morning, when I woke up, he was missing. In the living room, under a warm glass of milk, was a note. My eyes grew misty3 as I read it.
“Dear, I have my answer. I will never pick the flower for you if it meant certain death.
But before you leave, I hope you will give me a chance to give you my reasons.
You always sit in front of the computer and type the whole day. But you always end up in tears because your format goes all over the place. I need my fingers to do the formatting for you, so that your tears will become smiles.
You like to travel but always get lost. I need my eyes to take you to the nicest places on earth. Every time you leave the house, you forget your keys. I need my legs to run home and open the door for you.
You never know how to take care of yourself. I need my hands to help you get rid of the pesky4 white hair you hate so much when you grow old, to trim5 your nails and to feed you.
So you see, that's why I cannot pick the flower for you. Until I find someone who loves you more than I do, I will need my body to take care of you.
If you accept my reasons, then open the door and I will be waiting with your favorite muffin6.”
With tears streaming from my eyes, I opened the door. And there he was with an extremely worried look on his face. He still had nothing to say; he just stood there, waving the packet7 he had in his hand in front of me.
I knew then that I would never find another man who will love me as much as my husband does.
Just because someone does not love you the way you want him to, it doesn't mean that he does not love you with all he has.
我丈夫是个工程师。自从我们相遇,他一直是我生命中的磐石。我知道他很务实,好像不管事情变得多么疯狂,他都能一如既往地保持自己的本色。
三年的恋爱,两年的婚姻生活之后,我渐渐厌倦了他。他是我认识的最不浪漫的人,他从不买花送我,也不给我惊喜。我们的婚姻生活永远一成不变。
一段时间过后,我终于鼓起勇气告诉他我想跟他分手。他只是坐在那里不说话。我的心凉了:跟我结婚的人怎么这样啊?他甚至不知道说些让我留下的话。过了一会儿,他说:“我能做些什么才能让你改变主意呢?”
“如果你能对这个问题给我一个满意的答案,我就留下。”我冷冷地说,“如果我要一朵开在悬崖上的鲜花,你也知道上那儿采花意味着死亡,你还愿意为我采吗?”
他一脸苦相地说:“我能明早给你答案吗?”听到这话,我的心往下沉了。我明白和这样一个不能立马给我答案的人一起生活不会让我幸福的。
第二天早上,我醒来的时候没看见他。客厅里,一杯热牛奶的底下放了一张纸条。我读着读着眼睛模糊了。
“亲爱的,我有答案了。如果必死无疑的话,我是不会去采那朵花的。
但在你离开之前,我希望你能给我一个机会让我告诉你理由。
你经常坐在电脑前整天打字,但是最后你总是被气哭了,因为你的格式弄得乱七八糟。我需要用我的手指为你调整格式,把你的眼泪变成笑容。
你喜欢旅游,但经常迷路。我需要用我的眼睛带你到世界上最美丽的地方去。每一次你离开家总是忘记带钥匙,我需要用我的腿跑回来为你开门。
你从不知道照顾自己。当你年老的时候,我需要用我的手帮你拔掉你那么憎恨的烦人的白头发,帮你修剪指甲,喂饭给你吃。
所以你看,这就是我不能为你采花的原因。在找到一个比我更爱你的人之前,我需要用我的身体照顾你。
如果你接受了我的理由,请开门吧。我买了你最爱吃的松饼在等你。”
我满脸泪水打开了门。他站在那儿,脸上显得很焦急。他还是没说什么,只是站在那儿,在我眼前晃了晃他手上的一包松饼。
那时我知道我再也找不到比我丈夫更爱我的人了。
没有按你想要的方式爱你,仅此并不意味着一个人不是全身心地爱你。
1. unromantic adj. 不浪漫的,没有浪漫色彩的
2. cliff [klif] n. 悬崖,峭壁
3. misty adj. 泪水模糊的
4. pesky adj. 恼人的,讨厌的
5. trim [trim] v. 剪,修剪
6. muffin n. 松饼
7. packet n. 小包,小袋