We chatted for a while that Sunday morning and agreed to meet for lunch later that week.As it turned out we went to lunch several times， and she always wore a hat during the meal. I think that treatments of some sort had caused a lot of her hair to fall out. We shared things about our lives. I told her about my schooling and growing up. She told me that she had worked for years for an insurance company. She never mentioned family， and I did not ask.
她两手相扣放在大腿上，正坐在办公室里的一张椅子上，头低垂着。她抬头看我时，吃力地向我微笑。
那是张残破的脸，由于做过外科手术，她的脸皮绷得紧紧的，笑起来显得很困难。为了将脸上碍眼的肉瘤祛除，她接受了手术治疗，这让她遭受很多痛苦。
那个周日早上我们聊了一会儿，同意再约个时间吃午饭。我们在一起吃几次午饭。每次一起吃饭的时候她总戴着一顶帽子。我想可能是什么治疗让她脱发了。我们分享了各自生活中的点滴故事。我告诉她我的学生时代和成长心路的故事。她告诉我她已在一家保险公司工作好多年了。她从没提到家庭方面的事，我也没有过问。
We spoke of authors we both had read， and it was easy to tell that books are a great love of hers. I have thought about her often over the years and how she struggled in a society that places an incredible premiumpremium n.额外费用， 奖金， 奖赏， 保险费 on looks， class， wealth and all the other fineriesfinery n.华丽的服饰， 漂亮， 装饰， 服饰， 鲜艳服装， 精炼炉 of life. She suffered from a disfigurement that cannot be made to look attractive. I know that her condition hurt her deeply.
Would her life have been different had she been pretty？ Chances are it would have. And yet there were a sensitivity and a beauty to her that had nothing to do with looks. She was one to be listened to， whose words were so easy to take to heart. Her words came from a wounded but loving heart， very much like all hearts， but she had more of a need to be aware of it， to live with it and learn from it. She possessed a finetuned sense of beauty. Her only fear in life was the loss of a friend.
我们还谈到我们都读过哪些作家的作品，可以看出她很爱看书。这些年来，我常会想起她，他是怎样在这个以外表、地位和财富等浮华占风的社会中，一路艰难地走过来。毁容的脸让她看起来不再耀眼夺目。我知道这伤她很深。
她要是长得漂亮，命运就会不同？应该有这样的可能性。不过她有种独特的灵性和美，这与外表没有任何关系。她的话语是如此深入人心，她就是我们要倾听的声音。她的妙语来自于一颗受伤过却充满爱意的心，像所有人的心一样，只是她比别人更了解内心的需要、用心去体会生活并从中学习。她有种质地的美感。在她生命中，惟一的担心就是失去朋友。
How long does it take most of us to reach that level of human growth， if we ever get there？ We get so consumedconsume vt.消耗， 消费， 消灭， 大吃大喝， 吸引 and diminished， worrying about all the things that need improving， we can easily forget to cherish those things that last.
Friendship， so rare and so good， just needs our care—maybe even the simple gesture or writing a little note now and then， or the dropping of some beautiful words in a basket， in the hope that such beauty will be shared and taken to heart.
The truth of her life was a desire to see beyond the surface for a glimpseglimpse n.一瞥， 一看 of what it is that matters. She found beauty and grace and they befriended her， and showed her what is real.
我们需要多久才能达到那种人性的高度？我们是否能达到。我们总觉得精疲力竭，壮志难酬，为眼前的不足而患得患失，却忘记珍惜一些经久不衰的东西。
友谊珍贵而美好，只需我们关心呵护，有时简单的表示就可以了，或者偶尔写几句话，或者在篮子里放一些优美的文字，以期和大家一起分享，温暖彼此的心灵。
透过事物的表面领会其真正的本质是她生命的真谛。她发现了美和恩惠，而美和恩惠也待她如友，呈现给了她生命的真谛。
生命之美不在于外表而在于内心。一个人的心灵美，说明了这个人更多的是关注自己的内心世界，并从外界发现美、产生爱。有些人为自己没有美丽的外貌而苦恼，而不是从自己的内心出发，所以最终不仅浪费美好的生命，而且不知道自己到底想要什么。每一个人都是独一无二的，每一个人都是都能创造生命奇迹的，也许我们改变不了一些东西，但至少我们还有爱。爱自己，才能让自己更加美丽，生命的真谛不是从表面的东西得到，而是从事物背后的本质中得到的。挖掘本质需要我们每个人都有一双慧眼，用心去体味和感受，所以我们要更加关注内心，将人间的美和爱传承。