2016-12-26

【Aiden in English】

        You know, friendship is commonly expressed as a ship that sails the ocean. Every ship will eventually sink, but friendship is forever. As a child, the idea of a long-term friendship about 30 years is quite an abstract thought, since there aren’t many problems in life, nor is it considered very long.

        But when mom’s old friend came to visit from England, there was a visible bond that had existed for a long time.

        The very fact that the drive took about an hour and a half from PA to NJ showed the strength between mom and her friend, as not only was the drive long but last night we just came back and were still recovering from the L.A trip. Yet nothing stopped mom when she asked me to go, even when I didn’t want to. As usual, I bent to her will, and I hopped on the ride. Besides, there’s really nothing else to do around the house, and the weather outside was not suitable to be walking through. The day itself seemed pretty bleak, but it was one of the rare occasions mom was this excited for something. In hindsight, I must say, I can see why.

        As a matter of fact, the trip was actually fairly quick, instead of the projected hour and a half, we shaved off thirty minutes or so. Because we were just stopping by for possibly an hour or so, I really did not believe it was worth the drive. Once again, my mom convinced me by stating how strong the friendship from school, and therefore the importance, of this meeting, even if only for a couple of minutes. Upon arriving, the first thing mother did was to walk up to her longtime friend and hug her. Feeling kind of awkward, I moved away, but I was still astonished by how at ease they seemed.

        Even though they hadn’t seen each other for over four years, the relationship was still there. Although this had nothing to do with my life personally, I really want to see something later that would show a relationship that is just as strong as my mom. The very look on her face shows how much this meant to her, and her friend similarly beaming just as brightly. Their ships, even if they took separate paths from China, had finally regrouped, some twenty or so years later. In a new world, far away from their starting point, they did not care about their surroundings, as they were together, once again.

        At this point in life, friends are becoming more and more important. Larger problems appear more often in middle school, so the role of a good friend grows within everyone’s life. When I grow up, I hope to have a good friend that remains with me for a lifetime. These ships that sail forever, they are worth more than what money can buy.

        “A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably.” –William Penn

【紅霞譯文】

        如你所知，友誼往往被比作海上行駛的船舶，航船遲早會觸礁，但友誼之舟卻永不沉沒。身為學童，對於長達近乎卅年的過往交情甚感不可思議，因為自己的生活本無太多波折，況且年歲確實沒過多少。

        但當媽媽的老朋友從英國遠道來訪，彼此之間長期建立的親密情誼便可略見一斑。

        單憑不惜從賓州趕往新州驅車一個半鐘頭看望朋友的豪邁壯舉，足以表明彼此間友誼的魅力，這可不是單純路途遙遠的問題，殊不知昨夜我們剛從洛杉磯旅遊歸來，眼下仍然處在休整階段，然而當媽媽要我同行時，已經沒有什麼能夠讓她改變初衷，即使我不想去也白搭。如同往常一樣，我隨媽媽所願，跳上車疾馳離去，反正待在屋內也沒事好做，而戶外溫度又不適合散步閒蕩，今個天氣看上去相當陰沉，媽媽倒一反常態，似乎對某些事情特別起勁，俗話說得好，人逢喜事精神爽。事後回想起來，我明白一切緣何而起。

        事實上，這回車開得飛快，原本路上需要花費一個半鐘頭，結果愣讓我們省出卅分鐘左右。鑑於我們僅有大約一個小時的見面時間，我覺得實在犯不上勞神來回折騰，媽媽則不以為然，再三強調讀書年代建立的階級友誼根深蒂固，因此這次聚會非常重要，哪怕只是簡單地打個照面。當我們到達之後，媽媽所做的第一件事就是走上前去擁抱這位舊交，我涼在旁邊難免覺得有點尷尬，下意識退出視線，親眼目睹他們談笑風生，確實讓我驚訝不已。

        過去四年來儘管他們天各一方從沒相見，但青山在人未老友情依舊，誠然這跟我個人生活毫無關係，可我真心希望自己與朋友之間的友誼也能像媽媽一樣歷久彌新。就媽媽相逢時所流露的微笑表情來看，其內心喜悅盡在不言之中。從祖國啟航後，他們所乘坐的友誼之船紛紛沿着不同航線行駛，經過廿多年長途跋涉重又相聚，而且在遠離家鄉的全新世界裡，彼此友誼並沒有因為地域變化而變化。

        在我個人現有生活中，朋友變得越來越重要，初中階段時常面臨更加棘手的問題，因此良朋知己可以對每個人的生活產生積極影響。在成長過程中，我希望有好友相伴天長地久，大家同舟共濟，這要比金錢買到的東西更珍貴。

        “真正的朋友應該開誠布公，互相尊重，互相幫助，互相支持，互相信任，互相鼓勵，不管發生什麼都不離不棄。” ──威廉·佩恩