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“Oh, no!Not company!” I groaned, the moment my car rounded the corner and our house came into full view.Usually I’d be thrilled1 to see four cars lined up in our driveway, but after I spent a weeklong vigil2 at the hospital with an ill child, my house was a colossal3 mess.Turning off the car engine, I dragged myself to the front door.
“What are you doing home so soon?” my friend Judie called from the kitchen.“We weren’t expecting you for another hour!We thought we’d be long gone before you got home.”She walked toward me and gave me a hug, then asked softly, “How are you doing?”
Was this my house?Was I dreaming?Everything looked so clean.Where did these flowers come from?
Suddenly more voices, more hugs. Lorraine, smiling and wiping beads of perspiration4 from her forehead, came up from the family room where she had just finished ironing a mountain of clean clothes.Regina peeked into the kitchen, having finished vacuuming5 rugs and polishing and dusting furniture in every room in the house.Joan, still upstairs wrestling with the boys’ bunk-bed sheets, called down her “Hello,” having already brought order out of chaos6 in all four bedrooms.
“When did you guys get here?” was my last coherent sentence.My tears came in great heaving waves.“How come...how come...you did all this?” I cried unashamedly, every ounce of resistance gone.
I had spent the week accompanying my child through a health crisis, feeling helpless and my world upside down. And now, my friends laid a mantle of order, beauty and loving care into our home again.
“You rest a while, Virelle,” Lorraine said firmly.“Here’s your dinner for tonight—there are more meals in the freezer.”The table was set with flowers and fancy napkins, and a little gift was at my place.A small banquet was arranged, complete with salad and dessert.
“Don’t you worry; everything will be okay,” my friends said.
After my friends left, I wandered from room to room, still sobbing from the enormity7 of their gift of time and work.I found beautiful floral8 arrangements in every room...and little wrapped gifts on each bed.More tears.
In the living room I found a note under a vase filled with peonies.I was to have come home and found it as their only identity， “The Love Squad was here.”
And I knew that everything will be okay.
“噢，不！不要有人来！”当我将汽车转过拐角，我们家的房子完全出现在我的视线里的时候，我叹了一口气。如果是在平时，我看到有四辆汽车依次停靠在我家的车道上，我一定会兴奋地大叫起来。可是现在，由于我在医院照料一个生病的孩子已经一周了，我没有时间收拾家，因此，家里已经乱成一团了。我关掉发动机，拖着疲惫的身体向门口走去。
“你怎么现在就回来了？”我的朋友朱迪在厨房里叫道。“我们以为你还得一个小时才能回来呢！我们以为等你回来，我们早已走了。”她向我走来，给了我一个拥抱，然后轻声问道：“你还好吗？”
这是我的家吗？我是在做梦吗？家里这么整洁。这些鲜花是从哪里来的？
突然之间，我的身边涌来更多的声音和更多的拥抱。洛林一边微笑着用手擦去额头上的汗珠，一边从起居室里走出来。她刚才在那里熨了一叠像小山一样高的刚洗净的衣服。瑞吉娜向厨房里看了一眼，她刚用吸尘器把每个房间里的地毯都打扫干净，又把家具擦干净并且打上光了。此时仍然在楼上拍打男孩子们的双层床的被褥的琼冲着楼下喊了一声：“你好，”她已经把乱七八糟的四个卧室都收拾整齐了。
“你们什么时候来的？”我好不容易才说出这么一句连贯的话。我已经热泪盈眶了。“你们……你们……怎么来做这些？”我忍不住哭了，也顾不得不好意思了。
在医院里陪护孩子度过危险期的一周里，我总是感到很无助，觉得自己的世界全乱了。而现在，我的朋友们又把井然有序、美丽和关爱重新注入到我们家庭里来。
“你休息一会儿，维拉，”洛林以一种不容质疑的口吻说，“这是你今晚的晚餐——冰箱里还有更多。”餐桌上放着鲜花和漂亮的餐巾纸，在我的位置上还放着一个小礼物。简直就是一次小小的盛宴，有色拉和餐后甜点。
“别担心，一切都会好起来的，”我的朋友们说。
朋友们离开后，我从这个房间踱到另一个房间，他们给予我的这份付出了大量的时间和辛苦的礼物令我感动得涕泪交流。我发现每一个房间里都有美丽的鲜花……每一张床上都放着包裹好的小礼物。我的眼泪又流了下来。
在起居室里，我在一个插着牡丹的花瓶底下发现了一张字条。如果不是我提前回来的话，那么，等我回来之后，我就只能看到这张惟一能告诉我是怎么一回事的字条了：“朋友们来过了。”
我知道，一切都会好起来的。
紫藤花 摘译自City Life
“What are you doing home so soon?” my friend Judie called from the kitchen.“We weren’t expecting you for another hour!We thought we’d be long gone before you got home.”She walked toward me and gave me a hug, then asked softly, “How are you doing?”
Was this my house?Was I dreaming?Everything looked so clean.Where did these flowers come from?
Suddenly more voices, more hugs. Lorraine, smiling and wiping beads of perspiration4 from her forehead, came up from the family room where she had just finished ironing a mountain of clean clothes.Regina peeked into the kitchen, having finished vacuuming5 rugs and polishing and dusting furniture in every room in the house.Joan, still upstairs wrestling with the boys’ bunk-bed sheets, called down her “Hello,” having already brought order out of chaos6 in all four bedrooms.
“When did you guys get here?” was my last coherent sentence.My tears came in great heaving waves.“How come...how come...you did all this?” I cried unashamedly, every ounce of resistance gone.
I had spent the week accompanying my child through a health crisis, feeling helpless and my world upside down. And now, my friends laid a mantle of order, beauty and loving care into our home again.
“You rest a while, Virelle,” Lorraine said firmly.“Here’s your dinner for tonight—there are more meals in the freezer.”The table was set with flowers and fancy napkins, and a little gift was at my place.A small banquet was arranged, complete with salad and dessert.
“Don’t you worry; everything will be okay,” my friends said.
After my friends left, I wandered from room to room, still sobbing from the enormity7 of their gift of time and work.I found beautiful floral8 arrangements in every room...and little wrapped gifts on each bed.More tears.
In the living room I found a note under a vase filled with peonies.I was to have come home and found it as their only identity， “The Love Squad was here.”
And I knew that everything will be okay.
“噢，不！不要有人来！”当我将汽车转过拐角，我们家的房子完全出现在我的视线里的时候，我叹了一口气。如果是在平时，我看到有四辆汽车依次停靠在我家的车道上，我一定会兴奋地大叫起来。可是现在，由于我在医院照料一个生病的孩子已经一周了，我没有时间收拾家，因此，家里已经乱成一团了。我关掉发动机，拖着疲惫的身体向门口走去。
“你怎么现在就回来了？”我的朋友朱迪在厨房里叫道。“我们以为你还得一个小时才能回来呢！我们以为等你回来，我们早已走了。”她向我走来，给了我一个拥抱，然后轻声问道：“你还好吗？”
这是我的家吗？我是在做梦吗？家里这么整洁。这些鲜花是从哪里来的？
突然之间，我的身边涌来更多的声音和更多的拥抱。洛林一边微笑着用手擦去额头上的汗珠，一边从起居室里走出来。她刚才在那里熨了一叠像小山一样高的刚洗净的衣服。瑞吉娜向厨房里看了一眼，她刚用吸尘器把每个房间里的地毯都打扫干净，又把家具擦干净并且打上光了。此时仍然在楼上拍打男孩子们的双层床的被褥的琼冲着楼下喊了一声：“你好，”她已经把乱七八糟的四个卧室都收拾整齐了。
“你们什么时候来的？”我好不容易才说出这么一句连贯的话。我已经热泪盈眶了。“你们……你们……怎么来做这些？”我忍不住哭了，也顾不得不好意思了。
在医院里陪护孩子度过危险期的一周里，我总是感到很无助，觉得自己的世界全乱了。而现在，我的朋友们又把井然有序、美丽和关爱重新注入到我们家庭里来。
“你休息一会儿，维拉，”洛林以一种不容质疑的口吻说，“这是你今晚的晚餐——冰箱里还有更多。”餐桌上放着鲜花和漂亮的餐巾纸，在我的位置上还放着一个小礼物。简直就是一次小小的盛宴，有色拉和餐后甜点。
“别担心，一切都会好起来的，”我的朋友们说。
朋友们离开后，我从这个房间踱到另一个房间，他们给予我的这份付出了大量的时间和辛苦的礼物令我感动得涕泪交流。我发现每一个房间里都有美丽的鲜花……每一张床上都放着包裹好的小礼物。我的眼泪又流了下来。
在起居室里，我在一个插着牡丹的花瓶底下发现了一张字条。如果不是我提前回来的话，那么，等我回来之后，我就只能看到这张惟一能告诉我是怎么一回事的字条了：“朋友们来过了。”
我知道，一切都会好起来的。
紫藤花 摘译自City Life