Maybe I have experienced too much unpleasantness， but I believe in living each day to the fullest， and doing the very best I can.
My Miraculous Family
Lmely
I never considered myself uniqueunique adj.惟一的， 独特的 ， but people are
constantlyconstantly adv.不变地， 经常地 telling me， “you are a miraclemiracle n.奇迹， 奇事.”
可能是饱经磨难吧，所以我一直坚持认真过好每一天。
生命的奇迹
爱米莉
我从来没有觉得自己和别人有什么不同，但经常有人对我说：“你是一个奇迹。”
To me， I was just an ordinary “guy” with realisticrealistic adj.现实(主义)的 goals and big dreams. I was a 19yearold student at the University of Texas and well on my way toward fulfilling my “big dream” of one day becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
On the night of February 17， 1981， I was studying for an Organic Chemistry test at the library with Sharon， my girlfriend of three years. Sharon had asked me to drive her back to her dormitory as it was getting quite late. We got into my car， not realizing that just getting into a car would never quite be the same for me again.
I quickly noticed that my gas gauge was registered on empty so I pulled into a nearby convenience store to buy 2 worth of gas. “Ill be back in two minutes，” I yelledyell vi.大叫， 忍不住笑， 呼喊vt.叫着说n.叫声， 喊声 at Sharon as I closed the door. But instead， those two minutes changed my life forever.
我只不过是一个有着现实目标和远大理想的普通人而已。作为一名得克萨斯大学的学生，我那时19岁，正为着自己的理想而努力奋斗，希望有一天成为一个整形外科医生。
1981年2月17日的晚上，我和交往3年的女友沙伦在为有机化学测试做准备。因为太晚了，沙伦叫我驾车把她送回宿舍。我们钻进汽车，谁也没有料到，这样一个简单的矫健动作，在我以后的生命中再也不能做了。
很快，我就发现车没油了，于是在附近一家便利店旁边停了车，想买两块钱的汽油。“我两分钟就回来，”我关上车门朝沙伦喊到。但就是这短短的两分钟，永远地改变了我一生的命运。
Entering the convenience store was like entering the twilight zone. On the outside I was a healthy， athleticathletic adj.运动的 ， premed student， but on the inside I was just another statisticstatistic adj.统计的 of a violentviolent adj.猛烈的， 激烈的， 暴力引起的 crime.
I thought I was entering an empty store， but suddenly I realized it was not empty at all. Three robbers were in the processprocess n.过程， 作用， 方法， 程序， 步骤 of committing a robbery and my entrance into the store caught them by surprise.
One of the criminals immediately shoved a 38 caliber handgun to my head， ordered me to the cooler， pushed me down on the floor， and pumped a bullet into the back of my head—execution style. He obviouslyobviously adv.明显地 thought I was dead because he did not shoot me again. The trio of thieves finished robbing the store and left calmly.
就如同走进了阴间的鬼门关，进入这家便利店彻底改变了我的命运。门外的我还是个健康的、活蹦乱跳的未婚大学生，而门内的我却成了暴力犯罪的又一个牺牲品。
刚开始我还以为店里没有人，但很快我就发现自己错了，3个劫匪正在抢劫，而我的到来让他们有些惊慌失措。
一个劫匪掏出一把38毫米口径的手枪，用力指着我的头，勒令我到冷冻机旁，然后把我推倒在地，从后面照头一枪，就像执行死刑一样。他显然认为我已经死了，就没有再开枪。打劫完后3个劫匪逃之夭夭。
Meanwhile， Sharon wondered why I had not returned. After seeing the three men leave the store she really began to worry as I was the last person she saw entering the store. She quickly went inside to look for me， but saw no oneonly an almost empty cash register containing one check and several pennies. Quickly she ran down each aisle shouting， “Mike， Mike！”
Just then the attendant appeared from the back of the store shouting， “Lady， get down on the floor. Ive just been robbedrob v.抢夺， 抢掠， 剥夺 and shot at！”
Sharon quickly dropped to the floor screaming， “Have you seen my boyfriend？ He has auburn hair.” The man did not reply but went back to the cooler where he found me choking on my vomit. The attendantattendant n.服务员 quickly cleaned my mouth and then called for the police and an ambulance.
我这么久还没回去，沙伦非常担心。看到这3个劫匪离开后她更加担心了，因为我是她见到的最后一个进入店里的人。
她连忙跑进便利店找我，只见里面一片狼藉，收银机被一扫而空，上面仅剩一张账单和几枚散落的硬币。她在货架间飞快地跑着、喊着：“迈克，迈克！”
这时，从后面出来一名服务员呼喊道：“小姐，下来。我刚被打劫了，他们还开了枪。”
沙伦跌跌撞撞地下来，哭喊道：“你见到我的男朋友了吗？褐色头发的。” 那人默默走到冷冻机旁，找到了我，此时呕吐快令我窒息了。他赶忙帮我擦干了嘴，叫了警察和救护车。
Sharon was in shock. She was beginning to understand that I was hurt， but she could not begin to comprehend or imagine the severity of my injuryinjury n.伤害， 侮辱.
When the police arrived they immediately called the homicidehomicide n.杀人， 杀人者 division as they did not think I would survive and the paramedicparamedic n.伞兵军医， 护理人员 reported that she had never seen a person so severely wounded survive. At 1∶30 a.m. my parents who lived in Houston， were awakened by a telephone call from Brackenridge Hospital advising them to come to Austin as soon as possible for they feared I would not make it through the night.
But I did make it through the night and early in the morning the neurosurgeonneurosurgeon n.神经外科医生 decided to operate. However， he quickly informed my family and Sharon that my chances of surviving the surgery were only 40/100.
沙伦被吓坏了。随后她才明白我受伤了，但是她根本没有想到伤势有多严重。
不久警察就来了，他们认为这是一起杀人案。没有人相信我还能活过来，包括救护人员。她认为像我这样伤势严重的人存活几率很小。我的父母住在休斯顿，下午一点半，他们被来自布莱肯瑞吉医院的电话铃声惊醒，医院通知他们尽快赶到奥斯汀，因为他们认为我熬不过当晚了。
但是我挺过了当晚，第二天早上神经外科医生决定给我动手术。但他告知我的家人和沙伦我存活的机会只有百分之四十。
If this were not bad enough， the neurosurgeon further shocked my family by telling them what life would be like for me if I beat the odds and survived. He said I probably would never walk， talk， or be able to understand even simple commandscommand n.命令， 掌握.
My family was hoping and praying to hear even the slightest bit of encouragement from that doctor. Instead， his pessimistic words gave my family no reason to believe that I would ever again be a productive member of society. But once again I beat the odds and survived the three and a half hours of surgery.
Granted， I still could not talk， my entire right side was paralyzedparalyze vt.使瘫痪， 使麻痹 and many people thought I could not understand， but at least I was stable. After one week in a private room the doctors felt I had improved enough to be transferred by jet ambulanceambulance n.战时流动医院， 救护车 to Del Oro Rehabilitation Hospital in Houston.
然而更可气的还在后面，他告诉我的家人，即便我万幸活下来，也得面临很多生活方面的问题，譬如走路、说话能力的缺失，甚至于不能理解一些简单命令。
家人总是希望从医生口中得到一些鼓励的话，可是他言语之间充满了悲观，这使得所有的人都觉得我不会再对社会有用。在经历3个半小时的手术之后，我再次奇迹般地活了下来。
正如医生所说，我不能说话，整个右边的身体瘫痪了，很多人都觉得我变傻了，但至少我的状况是稳定的。在私人看护病房里待了一个星期后，医生觉得我已经好转了许多，并可以坐救护飞机转到奥斯汀的德欧洛康复医院。