Dad was doing something he had done all his life， giving. As sick as he was， he was still pleasing others.
Dad Is Sure That He Could Play That Mandolin
My father was a selftaught mandolin player. He was one of the best string instrumentstring instrument 弦乐器 players in our town. He could not read music， but if he heard a tune a few times， he could play it.
父亲一生信奉的做人准则是奉献。即使走到生命的尽头，他也仍尽力给别人带来欢乐。
父亲和曼陀林
我的父亲自学成为曼陀林琴手，在我们镇上他算是最优秀的弦乐演奏者之一。虽然他看不懂谱子，但只要听几遍曲子，就能熟练地弹奏出来。
When he was younger， he was a member of a small country music band. They would play at local dances and on a few occasions would play for the local radio station. He often told us how he had auditioned and earned a position in a band that featured Patsy Cline as their lead singer. He told the family that after he was hired he never went back.
Dad was a very religious man. He stated that there was a lot of drinking and cursing the day of his audition and he did not want to be around that type of environment.
Occasionally， Dad would get out his mandolin and play for the family. We three children： Trisha， Monte and I， George Jr.， would often sing along.
Songs such as the Tennessee Waltz， Harbor Lights and around Christmas time， the wellknown renditionrendition n.表演， 演唱， 翻译 of Silver Bells. “Silver Bells， Silver Bells， its Christmas time in the city” would ring throughout the house.
父亲年轻时，曾是一个小乡村乐队的成员。他们经常在当地舞厅演奏，并且还为当地的广播电台演奏过。他经常对我们说起他的试演经过以及如何进入佩茜·克莱恩为主唱的乐队。他还告诉家人，自从他找到工作就再也没有回去过。
父亲是一个很严谨的人，他说试演的那天，很多人在喝酒，咒骂，因此他不想留在那种环境里。
有时父亲会拿出他的曼陀林，为家人弹奏。我们三个小孩：泰莎、蒙蒂和我——乔治通常会随着音乐歌唱。
曲目有《田纳西华尔兹》和《海港之光》，到了圣诞节，我们就唱脍炙人口的《银铃》：“银铃，银铃，圣诞节来到了城里。”欢乐的歌声萦绕在房子里。
One of Dads favorite hymnshymn n.赞美诗， 圣歌 was “The Old Rugged Cross”. We learned the words to the hymn when we were very young， and would sing it with Dad when he would play and sing.
Another song that was often shared in our house was a song that accompaniedaccompany vt.陪伴， 伴奏 the Walt Disney series： Davey Crockett. Dad only had to hear the song twice before he learned it well enough to play it. “Davey， Davey Crockett， King of the Wild Frontier” was a favorite song for the family.
He knew we enjoyed the song and the program and would often get out the mandolin after the program was over. I could never get overget over v.爬过， 克服， 熬过， 恢复， 原谅 how he could play the songs so well after only hearing them a few times. I loved to sing， but I never learned how to play the mandolin. This is something I regret to this day.
父亲最爱的一首赞歌是《古老的十字架》。我们很小的时候就学会这首赞歌的歌词了，而当父亲弹唱的时候，我们也会跟着唱。
还有一首我们常一起唱的歌，就是沃特·迪斯尼的系列片：《戴维·克罗克特》。这首曲子父亲只听了两遍就能弹唱了，“戴维，戴维·克罗克特，荒野之国的国王。”那是我们最喜欢的歌曲。
他知道我们喜欢那首歌和那个节目，所以每次节目结束后，他就拿出曼陀林弹奏为我们弹奏。我永远不能明白为什么他只是听了几遍，就能把一首曲子弹得出神入化。我热爱唱歌，但我没学会怎样弹奏曼陀林，这让我至今感到遗憾。
Dad loved to play the mandolin for his family， he knew we enjoyed singing， and hearing him play. He was like that. If he could give pleasure to others， he would， especially his family.
He was always there， sacrificingsacrifice v.牺牲， 献出， 献祭， 供奉 his time and efforts to see that his family had enough in their life. I had to mature into a man and have children of my own before I realized how much he had sacrificed.
I joined the United States Air Force in January of 1962. Whenever I would come home on leave， I would ask Dad to play the mandolin.
Nobody played the mandolin like my father. He could touch your soul with the tones that came out of that old mandolin. He seemed to shine when he was playing. You could see his pride in his ability to play so well for his family.
父亲喜欢为家人弹奏曼陀林，因为他知道我们喜欢唱歌，喜欢听他弹奏。他就是那样的人，一个愿意将快乐与他人共同分享的人，尤其是对待自己的家人。
他牺牲自己的时间和精力让我们得到满足。父亲这种无私奉献的精神是在我长大成人，且有了自己的孩子后才真正体会到的。
1962年1月，我入伍到了美国空军部队。我每次休假回家时，都会请求父亲弹奏曼陀林。
没有人能把弹奏曼陀林弹奏到如此出神入化的境界，他在那古老的曼陀林上弹出的旋律能够触及你的灵魂。他弹奏的时候，身上似乎散发出一种神奇的光芒。这时，你就可以看出，父亲为能给家人弹奏出如此美妙的旋律而感到无比自豪。