他们一回到家，杰克就抓着她的手，让她坐下来。
“贝丝，我爱你，一辈子。自从我在单杠上看到你的那天，你对我说要嫁给我开始，我就知道我爱上了你。没有你在我身边，我无法忍受独自度过哪怕一个夜晚。你使我的生命变得完整。贝丝，嫁给我，好吗？”
痛苦的眼泪涌出她蓝色的眼睛，她摇着头说：“我不能嫁给你，不能。”
母亲从床上起来，想去阻止她。但是贝丝关上了门。她躲在门后，希望有一天当她醒来后，癌症能够消失。她能和杰克共同享受幸福的生活，直到永远。但是，他怎么可能爱一个即将死于癌症的人呢？
一周过去了，一条条的信息，贝丝都没有回复。每次杰克打来电话都是母亲去接。杰克不知道怎么回事。他需要马上和贝丝谈谈，打电话已经解决不了任何问题。这无法填平他内心身处痛苦的峡谷。
他必须亲自见她，不论她喜欢与否。他要告诉她自己不在乎发生在她身上的任何事情。他仍然希望能与她在一起。他穿上了蓝色牛仔短裤，还有那件他最爱的白衬衣，她最喜欢看他穿这件衣服。然后，他上了车。
来到她的家门，他看了一下车道。她母亲的车不在。这次她必须要面对他，没法躲在母亲身后了。他敲了敲门。
“来啦，”贝丝说着，打开了门。她穿着一件红色的睡袍，上面绣着自己的名字。那是几年前，她祖母送给她的。
“请让我进去，我们需要谈谈。”
她不能粗鲁无礼。他们确实需要好好谈谈，谈谈他将如何看着自己唯一的爱人被癌症夺走。让他如何接受？她把门开大些，他慢慢走了进来。
“我不知道你为什么不和我谈。我不知道为什么我们不能在一起。难道你不知道我有多爱你吗？”他失落地把手插进棕色的头发里，继续说道：“你可以告诉我任何你要说的事情。我今天在这里，明天，永远都在这里。你是知道的。但是，现在出了什么问题？”
他轻轻地抱着她坐在沙发上。那一刻，她所有的恐惧、痛苦都消失了。世界上任何事情都无所谓，只要他们能够永远在一起。一行眼泪悄悄地从她的右脸颊上滴落，落在杰克的肩上。
她擦干泪水，说道：“我爱你，但这正是我让你离开我的原因。”杰克不愿意看到她如此消沉。她是一个意志坚强的人。她从未像现在这样失落，这使他产生了一种不祥的感觉。
“让我离开？天哪，到底为什么？”杰克更紧地拥着她，在她的脸颊上轻轻地吻了一下。
“我得了乳癌，我也是在几周前才知道。我不想嫁给你，因为我不想让你痛苦……”
他用男人最甜蜜的热吻打断了她的话。她所有的疑虑和恐惧像风一样慢慢散去。所有的一切都恢复了正常，他们又找回了曾经以为已经失去的爱情。
他们将永远生活在爱的港湾。
Tommy，s Essay
A gray sweater hung limply on Tommy，s empty desk， a reminder of the dejected boy who had just followed his classmates from our thirdgrade room. Soon Tommy，s parents， who had recently separated， would arrive for a conference on his failing schoolwork and disruptive behavior. Neither parent knew that I had summoned the other.
Tommy， an only child， had always been happy， cooperative and an excellent student. How could I convince his father and mother that his recent failing grades represented a brokenhearted child，s reaction to his adored parents， separation and pending divorce？
Tommy，s mother entered and took one of the chairs I had placed near my desk. Soon the father arrived. Good！ At least they were concerned enough to be prompt. A look of surprise and irritation passed between them， and then they pointedly ignored each other.
As I gave a detailed account of Tommy，s behavior and schoolwork， I prayed for the right words to bring these two together， to help them see what they were doing to their son. But somehow the words wouldn，t come. Perhaps if they saw one of his smudged， carelessly done papers.
I found a crumpled tearstained sheet stuffed in the back of his desk， an English paper. Writing covered both sides - not the assignment， but a single sentence scribbled over and over.
Silently I smoothed it out and gave it to Tommy，s mother. She read it and then without a word handed it to her husband. He frowned. Then his face softened. He studied the scrawled words for what seemed an eternity.
At last he folded the paper carefully， placed it in his pocket， and reached for his wife，s outstretched hand. She wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled up at him. My own eyes were brimming， but neither seemed to notice. He helped her with her coat and they left together.
In his own way God had given me the words to reunite that family. He had guided me to the sheet of yellow copy paper covered with the anguished outpouring of a small boy，s troubled heart.
The words， “Dear Mom ... Dear Daddy ... I love you ... I love you ... I love you.”
汤米的随笔
一件灰色套衫搭在汤米的空桌上，让人想起这个情绪低落的男孩，他刚随同学从三年级教室出去。汤米最近分居的父母马上就要来学校，讨论他每况愈下的学习成绩和捣蛋行为，父母双方都不知道对方要来。
汤米是个独子，一直生活幸福，乐意合作，而且是个出色的学童。我怎能使他的父母相信他近来学习成绩下降是一个心碎的孩子对他敬爱的父母分居和即将离异的反应呢？
汤米的母亲进屋后坐在我放在我桌旁的其中一把椅子上，不一会儿他的父亲也来了。不错！至少他们还够关心他，能准时来校。他们之间交换了一下惊奇和气恼的眼色，然后明显流露出无视对方的神色？
我详细叙述汤米的表现和学习情况，苦苦寻求恰当的词语以图把他们俩撮合在一起，帮助他们认识到他们的所作所为给孩子造成的后果，但是不知怎么的就是找不到适当的话。或许如果他们看看汤米的一纸脏污，漫不经心写的作业……
我在他桌子深处找到一张皱巴巴的满是泪迹的纸？那是张英语作业纸，正反两面潦潦草草地写满了字，但不是布置的作业，而是翻来覆去的一句话。
我默默地把它捋平，递给了汤米的母亲，她看完后没吭一声给了她丈夫。他先是皱着眉，而后脸色变温和了，他仔细盯着潦草的字看了似乎无穷无尽的一段时间。
最后，他小心翼翼地折起纸，把它放进口袋里，手伸向他妻子伸出的手，她擦去眼里的泪水，抬头朝她的丈夫露出笑容。我也热泪盈眶，但是他们俩谁也没注意到，汤米的父亲帮妻子穿上大衣，然后俩人一起走了出去。
上帝以自己的方式给了我使这一家破镜重圆的词语，他把我引向了那张满是一个小男孩苦恼心情的痛苦倾诉的黄色作业纸。
那张纸上写着：“亲爱的妈妈……亲爱的爸爸……我爱你们……我爱你们……我爱你们。”
Love Is Just a Thread
Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don，t act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion， “I love you” is too luxurious for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine，s Day is even more out of the question. Finally my father has a bad temper. When he，s very tired from the hard work， it is easy for him to lose his temper.
One day， my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat down beside her and looked at her.
“Mom， I have a question to ask you，” I said after a while.
“What？” she replied， still doing her work.
“Is there love between you and Dad？” I asked her in a very low voice.
My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. She didn，t answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.
I was very worried because I thought I had hurt her. I was in a great embarrassment and I didn，t know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words：
“Susan，” she said thoughtfully， “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears， but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt， then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime， but it，s really there. Love is inside.”
I listened carefully but I couldn，t understand her until the next spring. At that time， my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital， they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness.
After they were back， every day in the morning and dusk， my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious couple. Along the country road， there were many beautiful flowers， green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.
The doctor had said my father would recover in two months. But after two months he still couldn，t walk by himself. All of us were worried about him.
“Dad， how are you feeling now？” I asked him one day.