A father's love

7 父爱

Daddy just didn’t know how to show love. It was Mom who held the family
together. He just went to work every day and came home; she’d have a list of
sins we’d committed and he’d scold us about them.

爸爸根本不知道怎样表达爱。把这个家维系在一起的人是妈妈。爸爸天天去上班，回家，然后是妈妈向他数落我们所做的一连串错事，爸爸再为了这些事把我们骂一顿。

Once when I stole a candy bar, he made me take it back and tell the man I
stole it and that I’d pay for it. But it was Mom who understood I was just a
kid.

有一次我偷了一根棒棒糖。爸爸硬是要我送回去，还要我告诉卖糖的人是我偷了糖，并说我愿意帮他拆箱开包作为赔偿。但妈妈却理解我，她知道我只不过是个孩子。

I broke my leg once on the playground swing and it was Mom who held me in her
arms all the way to the hospital. Dad pulled the car right up to the door of the
emergency room and when they asked him to move it saying the space was reserved
for emergency vehicles, He shouted, “What do you think this is? A tour
bus?”

再有一次，我在操场荡秋千摔坏了腿，一路抱着我到医院的人是妈妈。爸爸将车正好停在急诊室门口。因为那儿是专供急救车停靠的，医院里的人就叫我爸爸把车开走。爸爸大声吼叫起来：“你以为这是什么车？难道是旅游车吗？”

At my birthday parties, Dad always seemed sort of out of place, He just
busied himself blowing up balloons, setting up tables, and running errands, it
was Mom who carried the cake with the candles on it for me to blow
out.

在我的生日聚会上，爸爸总显得有点不得其所。他不是忙于吹气球，就是摆桌子，或做些跑腿的活儿。将插着蜡烛的生日蛋糕捧进来让我吹灭的人总是妈妈。

When I leaf through picture albums, people always ask, “What does your Dad
took like?” “Who knows? He was always fiddling around with the camera taking
everyone else’s picture. I must have a zillion pictures of Mom and me smiling
together.”

我随便翻阅相册时，别人总会问“你爸爸长什么模样？”这还真说不出。他总是摆弄着相机为别人拍照。我和妈妈在一起微笑的照片一定多得都数不清了。

I remember when Mom told him to teach me how to ride a bicycle. I told him
not to let it go, but he said it was time. I fell and Mom ran to pick me up, but
he waved her off. I was so mad that I showed him, got right back on that bike
and rode it myself. He didn’t even feel embarrassed and just smiled.

我还记得有一次妈妈叫爸爸教我骑自行车。我叫他扶着车子别松手，他却说是时候了。我摔了下来，妈妈跑来扶我，他却挥手让妈妈开走。我真是气得发疯，决心非要让他看看我的本事不可。我马上骑上车，竟能一个人骑了。爸爸却一点也不尴尬，只是笑笑。

When I went to college, Mom did all the writing. He just sent checks and a
little note about how great his lawn looked now that I wasn’t playing football
on it.

我上大学了，给我的信总是妈妈写的。爸爸只知道寄钱，顶多附上一张便条，告诉我他的草坪现在修整得多么好，而如今我却不能在上面踢球。

Whenever I called home, he acted like he wanted to talk, but he always said,
“I’ll get your mother.”When I got married, it was Mom who cried. He just blew
his nose loudly and left the room. All my life he said, “Where are you going?
What time are you coming home? No, you cannot go.”

每次我打电话回家，爸爸总像是有话要说，但结果他总是说“我把你妈叫来接”。我结婚的时候，妈妈哭了，爸爸只是大声打着鼻响，离走出了房间。在我一生中，他总是说：“你去哪儿？你什么时候回家？不，你不能去。”

Daddy just didn’t know how to show love, unless…

爸爸就是不知道怎样表达爱，只会这样……

Is it possible he showed it and didn’t recognize it ?