英语智慧背囊 15-甜豌豆的夏天

[00:03.19]Sweet-Pea Summers 甜豌豆的夏天
[00:06.74]Each summer in the late 1960s,
[00:09.78] my two sisters and I would ride the Greyhound bus
[00:13.12]from Arizona to Arkansas to stay with our father.
[00:16.46]　　A World War II veteran,
[00:18.53]Dad had many medical problems,
[00:20.62]any one of which could cause many people to lose more than their sense of humor,
[00:25.45] but not him.
[00:26.85]　　I have vivid memories of Dad waking us up in the morning.
[00:30.57]Before he’d put on his legs for the day
[00:33.41](he had lost his legs after his discharge),
[00:36.15] his wheelchair was his mobility.
[00:38.55]Holding his cane,
[00:40.41] which was his extended arm,
[00:42.71] he would roll through the house yelling,
[00:44.90] "Up, up, up! Get up and face the day!
[00:47.90]It’s a beautiful day! Rise and Shine!"
[00:51.41] If we didn’t get up right away,
[00:53.81]he would repeat his song in rhythm with his cane hitting the end of our beds.
[00:58.73] This was no performance put on for our benefit;
[01:02.56]every day was truly a beautiful day to him.
[01:06.16]　　Back in the sixties,
[01:08.36]there was no handicapped parking or wheelchair-accessible ramps like there are now,
[01:13.49]so even a trip to the grocery store was a difficult task.
[01:17.54]Dad wanted no assistance from anyone.
[01:20.93]He would climb stairs slowly but surely,
[01:23.99] whistling all the way.
[01:26.05] As a teenager,
[01:27.56]I found this embarrassing,
[01:29.29]but if Dad noticed,
[01:30.94]he didn’t let me help.
[01:32.47]　　Those summers always ended too soon.
[01:35.75] He would drive us back to Arizona every year,
[01:39.24] stopping at the checkpoint for fruit and vegetables at the New Mexico-Arizona border.
[01:44.94] When asked if he had any fruits or vegetables,
[01:48.21]he would reply, "Just three sweet peas."
[01:51.28]　　Our father has been gone for a long time now,
[01:54.99] but not the lesson that he taught us:
[01:57.29]You are only as handicapped as you let yourself be.