I knew then without a doubt that Cody’s outlook was back on track.
Just by having hearts in his eyes.
眼里有心
科迪出生时仅仅24盎司。
因为是极度早产，我们的儿子做了眼部手术以防止失明。手术结果是，他失去了右眼的周边视觉。右眼近视就意味着他终身都需要戴眼镜，终身都需要有眼科专家的密切监察。
相对于失明，我们认为这点代价实在是微不足道。
科迪极为骄傲地戴上了眼镜，那种骄傲劲让他的弟弟们一眼就能看出：爸爸、妈妈都戴眼镜，而他们却不戴，简直有点不像话。于是弟弟们时常轮番恳求也要戴眼镜，否则不公平嘛。
转眼该上幼儿园了。
有一天课间休息时，两个小男孩彻底摧毁了科迪对戴眼镜所抱有的自豪感。一个男孩说，科迪，你的眼镜看上去好蠢。而另一个竟猛地把科迪的眼镜摘下，把它弄弯。
科迪个头小，生性腼腆。他回家跟我们说起这件事时，眼泪直在眼睛里打转转，我们的心里好难受。
但就在最近，有件事改变了他对眼镜的看法。
那是情人节的早晨。闹钟一响，我赶紧按住，然后在黑暗中摸索着找到我的眼镜。我戴上眼镜，没有开灯，摸黑走进卫生间。轻轻按下卫生间的电灯开关，我才明白过来为什么卧室是那样出奇地黑暗。
我先生斯蒂芬，在我的眼镜片上分别贴了两个红色心形贴画。而在我们卫生间盥洗池上方那些大小不一的古董镜子上也都贴满了红心。
“我的爱，我这么地爱你！”我先生在一面镜子上潦草地写道。
在一面镜子上画有一只伸直的胳膊，手指向西边。而另一面镜子上也画有一只伸直的胳膊，手指向东边。瞅着镜中的自己，我使劲忍住不笑出声来，怕弄醒丈夫和孩子。
我也在镜子上写下了我的回复：“谢谢你，亲爱的。我的眼里满是心！”
在给科迪穿衣服准备去学校时，他低声说：“妈妈？”
“嗯，我的大男孩？”我低声应和。
“你眼镜上有红心。”
“没错，有啊。”
“你真有意思，妈妈，”他说了句，眼里放着光芒。我们俩钻进小货车的驾驶室里，又有好多心将我们包围。方向盘上贴有红心，后视镜上有一个，钥匙上有一个，换档杆上有一个，我的皮夹上还有一个。我那不知忧愁为何物的老公真是大献殷勤。
我把那两颗心从我的眼镜上揭下，递给科迪。他小心翼翼地把它们贴到自己的眼镜片上，去学校的一路上他都是笑眯眯的。
我在校门口停下来。
“拿上你的书包，宝贝，”我说。
“妈妈，我能戴着红心上学吗？”
我心里斗争了一会儿。如此当众“表演”可能一鸣惊人，也可能一败涂地。但是科迪眼里流露出的恳求让我不再犹豫。我怎能剥夺有可能让他开心的一个大好机会呢？
“我看没有什么不可以的，小伙子。”
我又把两个红心贴在我自己的镜片上，然后我们一起走进学校，手拉着手，穿过走廊中的人群，朝他的教室走去。
“哈！快看科迪·奥利弗。他眼镜上有红心！”一个人看见了，嚷了起来。
“啊，看科迪！多酷呀！”另一个发现者也嚷着，指着我们咯咯地笑。
科迪腼腆地微笑着，紧紧地抓住我的手。
当我们来到教室门口时，同学们围住科迪，而我看到他在努力克制他的笑容，那是我在他脸上看见过的最开心的笑容。
“真有意思！眼镜上有心！”
“科迪，让我戴一下好吗？”
一个小姑娘扯了扯我的衣袖。“您是奥利弗太太？”
“是啊。你有什么事？”
“我要是戴眼镜就好了。”
就在那时，我一点也不再怀疑，科迪又重新拾回了他的自信。
很简单，就是让眼里有心。
The Process of Growing
The drugstore was beginning to close for the night.Young Alfred Higgins，who worked in the store was putting on his coat，getting ready to go home.On his way out，he passed Mr.Carr，the little grayhaired man who owned the store.Mr.Carr looked up at Alfred as he passed，and said in a very soft voice，“Just one moment，Alfred.One moment before you go.”Mr.Carr spoke so quietly that he worried Alfred.
“What is it，Mr.Carr？”
“Maybe，you’d be good enough to take a few things out of your pockets and leave them here before you go.”said Mr.Carr.
“What—What things？What are you talking about？”
“You’ve got a compact and a lipstick and at least two tubes of toothpaste in your pockets，Alfred，”
“What do you mean n Alfred answered.“Do you think I’m crazy？”his face got red.
Mr.Carr kept looking at Alfred coldly.Alfred did not know what to say，and tried to keep his eyes from meeting the eyes of his boss.After a few moments，he put his hand into his pockets and took out the things he had stolen.
“Petty thieving，eh，Alfred.”said Mr.Carr.“And maybe you’d be good enough to tell me how long this has been going on.”
“This is the first time I ever took anything.”
Mr.Carr was quick to answer，“So now you think you’ll tell me a lie，eh What kind of fool I look like，huh I don’t know what goes on in my own store，eh I tell you，you’ve been doing this for a long time.”Mr.Carr had a strange smile on his face.“I don’t like to call the police，”he said，“but maybe I should call your father，and let him know I’m going to have you put in jail.”
“My father is not home.He is a printer.He works nights.”
“Who is at home？”Carr asked.
“My mother，I think.”
Mr.Carr started to go to the phone.Alfred’s fear made him raise his voice.He wanted to show he was afraid of nobody.He acted this way every time he got into trouble.This had happened many times since he left school.At such times he always spoke in a loud voice，as he did tonight.“Just a minute，”he said to Mr.Carr.“You don’t have to get anybody else into this.You don’t have to tell her.”Alfred tried to sound big，but deep down he was like a child.He hoped that someone at home would come quickly to save him.But Mr.Carr was already talking to his mother.He told her to come to the store in a hurry.
Alfred thought his mother would come，rushing in，eyes burning with anger.Maybe she would be crying and would push him away when he tried to explain to her.She would make him feel so small.Yet，he wanted her to come quickly before Mr.Carr called in a policeman.Alfred and Mr.Carr waited，but said nothing.At last they heard someone at the closed door.Mr.Carr opened it and said，“Come in，Mrs.Higgins.”His face was harsh and serious.
Alfred’s mother came in with a friendly smile on her face and put out her hand to Mr.Carr，said politely，“I’m Mrs.Higgins，Alfred’s mother.”
Mr.Carr was surprised at the way she came in.She was very calm，quiet and friendly.“Is Alfred in trouble？”Mrs.Higgins asked.
“He is.He has been taking things from the store—little things，like toothpaste and lipsticks，things he can easily sell，”Mrs.Higgns looked at her son and said sadly.“Is it so，Alfred？”
“Yes.”
“Why have you been doing it？”she asked.
“I’ve been spending money，I believe.”
“On what？”
Higgins put out her hand and touched Mr.Carr’s arm with great gentleness，as if she knew just how he felt.She spoke as if she did not want to cause him any more trouble.She said，“If you will just listen to me before doing anything？”Her voice was cool and she turned her head away as if she had said too much already.Then she looked again at Mr.Carr with a pleasant smile and asked，“What do you want to do，Mr.Carr？”
“I was going to get a cop.That is what I should do—call the police.”
“On going around with the boys，I guess.”said Alfred.
She answered，“Yes，I think so.It’s not for me to say because he is my son.Yet，I sometimes think a little good advice is the best thing for a boy at certain times in his life.”Higgins looked like a different woman to her son，Alfred.There she was，with a gentle smile，saying，“I wonder if you don’t think it would be better just to let him come home with me.He looks like a big fellow，doesn’t he？Yet it takes some of them a long time to get any sense in their head.”