It was a lovely wedding， with all the people at the nursing home joining in the celebration. A perfect ending for a love affair that had lasted nearly 60 years.
Letter in the Wallet
It was a freezingfreezing adj.冰冻的， 严寒的， 冷冻用的 day， a few years ago， when I stumbled on a wallet in the street. There was no identificationidentification n.辨认， 鉴定， 证明， 视为同一 inside. Just three dollars， and a crumpledcrumpled adj.摺皱的， 弄皱的 letter that looked as if it had been carried around for years.
那是一场十分感人的婚礼，养老院所有的人都参与了。这个持续了60载的爱情故事终于有了一个圆满的结局。
钱包里的一封信
几年之前的一个寒冷的日子，我在路上拾到一个钱包。里面没有任何身份证明，只有三美元和一封揉皱的信，看上去好像有好些年头了。
The only thing legiblelegible adj.清晰的， 易读的 on the torn envelope was the return address. I opened the letter and saw that it had been written in 1944—almost 60 years ago. I read it carefully， hoping to find some clue to the identity of the wallets owner.
It was a “Dear John” letter. The writer， in a delicate script， told the recipient， whose name was Michael， that her mother forbade her to see him again. Nevertheless， she would always love him. It was signed Hannah.
It was a beautiful letter. But there was no way， beyond the name Michael， to identifyidentify vt.识别， 鉴别， 把……和……看成一样v.确定 the owner. Perhaps if I called information the operator could find the phone number for the address shown on the envelope.
“Operator， this is an unusual request. Im trying to find the owner of a wallet I found. Is there any way you could tell me the phone number for an address that was on a letter in the wallet？”
上面惟一能辨认出的是破旧信封上的回信地址。我打开信，发现是写于1944年，也就是六十年前。我把信仔细看了一遍，希望能找到任何找到钱包主人的线索。
这是一封绝交信。写信人用娟秀的笔迹告诉一个名叫迈克尔的收信人，她的母亲禁止她再与他见面，但她会永远爱他。署名是汉娜。
这封信语句优美，但其中除了迈克尔这个名字外，没有任何可以识别失主的东西。或许，我询问咨询处，接线员能找到信封上地址的电话号码。
“接线员，您好，我有一个非同寻常的要求。我拾到一个钱包，希望能找到失主。钱包里只有一封信，上面有地址，您能帮我找到这个地址的电话吗？”
The operator gave me her supervisorsupervisor n.监督人， 管理人， 检查员， 督学， 主管人 ， who said there was a phone listed at the address， but that she could not give me the number.
However， she would call and explain the situation. Then， if the party wanted to talk， she would connect me. I waited a minute and she came back on the line. “I have a woman who will speak with you.”
I asked the woman if she knew a Hannah.
“Oh， of course！ We bought this house from Hannahs family thirty years ago.”
“Would you know where they could be located now？” I asked.
“Hannah had to place her mother in a nursing home years ago. Maybe the home could help you track down the daughter.”
The woman gave me the name of the nursing home. I called and found out that Hannahs mother had died.
接线员将电话转交给了主管。主管说虽然找到了这个地址的电话，但她不能把号码告诉我。
不过她说可以替我打个电话做一下解释。假如对方同意，她将与我联系。几分钟之后，她回到电话旁告诉我：“有位女士要与你谈话。”
我问那位女士是否认识汉娜。
“当然，我们在三十年以前从汉娜的手里买到的这幢房屋。”
我问道：“那您知道她们现在住在哪里吗？”
“几年之前，汉娜把她母亲送进了养老院。也许你可以在那儿取到些帮助，找到汉娜。”
这位女士给了我养老院的名字。我打电话过去，了解到汉娜的母亲已经去世了。
The woman I spoke with gave me an address where she thought Hannah could be reached.
I phoned. The woman who answered explained that Hannah herself was now living in a nursing home. She gave me the number. I called and was told， “Yes， Hannah is with us.”
I asked if I could stop by to see her. It was almost 10 p.m. The director said Hannah might be asleep. “But if you want to take a chance， maybe shes in the day room watching television.”
The director and a guard greetedgreet vt.问候， 向……致意， 获悉(消息) me at the door of the nursing home. We went up to the third floor and saw the nurse， who told us that Hannah was indeed watching TV.
We entered the day room. Hannah was a sweet， silverhaired oldtimer with a warm smile and friendly eyes. I told her about finding the wallet and showed her the letter.
接电话的女士又给了我一个住址。她说汉娜也许会在那里。
我拨通了电话，接听电话的女士说汉娜本人也已住在养老院了，她把号码交给了我。我打过去，得到了回答：“是的，汉娜在我们这里。”
我问能否去看望她。这时将近晚上10点钟了。主任说汉娜可能已经睡觉了。“不过，假如你想来试一下的话，她也许还在休息室看电视呢。”
主任和保安在养老院门口迎接到了我。我们一起来到三楼，见到了护士。她告诉我们说汉娜的确还在看电视。
我们走进了休息室。汉娜是一位非常慈祥的白发老人，她笑容满面，眼神和蔼。我把拾到钱包的事告诉了她，并拿出了那封信。
The second she saw it， she took a deep breath. “Young man，” she said， “this letter was the last contact I had with Michael.”
She looked away for a moment， then said pensivelypensively adv.沉思地， 焦虑地 ， “I loved him very much. But I was only sixteen and my mother felt I was too young. He was so handsome. You know， like Sean Connery， the actor.”
We both laughed. The director then left us alone. “Yes， Michael Goldstein was his name. If you find him， tell him I still think of him often. I never did marry，” she said， smiling through tears that welled up in her eyes. “I guess no one ever matched up to Michael…”
I thanked Hannah， said goodbye and took the elevator to the first floor. As I stood at the door， the guard asked， “Was the old lady able to help you？”
在看到信的那一刻，她深吸了口气，说道：“年轻人，这封信是我和迈克尔的最后一次联系。”
她扭过头去凝望了一会儿，深沉地说：“我很爱他。但当时我只有16岁，妈妈认为我太小了。他非常英俊，就像肖恩·康奈利。”