A Promise Kept 恪守一生的承诺

In a world where so many lives are being torn apart by divorces and heartaches, comes a story of a father and a daughter, and a promise that was kept.

现今，离婚和关系破裂粉碎了无数人的人生，然而在这样的一个时世，有着这么一个关于一对父女信守承诺的故事。

My father was not a sentimental man. I don’t remember him ever “ooohhing” or “ahhing” over something I made as a child. Don’t get me wrong; I knew that my dad loved me, but getting all mushy-eyed was not his thing. I learned that he showed me love in other ways.

我父亲不善表露感情。我记得在我小时候，他从来不为我做的任何事情而发出“噢噢噢”或者“啊啊啊”之类的感叹。不要误会我的意思;我知道我父亲是爱我的，但是将感情外露不是他的性格。我知道他通过其他方式表达对我的爱。

There was one particular time in my life when this became real to me...

在我人生中，只有这么一回让我感受到他的爱是如此的真实……

I always believed that my parents had a good marriage, but just before I, the youngest of four children, turned sixteen, my belief was sorely tested. My father, who used to share in the chores around the house, gradually started becoming despondent. From the time he came home from his job at the factory to the time he went to bed, he hardly spoke a word to my mom or us kids. The strain on my mom and dad’s relationship was very evident. However, I was not prepared for the day that Mom sat my siblings and me down and told us that Dad had decided to leave. All that I could think of was that I was going to become a product of a divorced family. It was something I never thought possible, and it grieved me greatly. I kept telling myself that it wasn’t going to happen, and I went totally numb when I knew my dad was really leaving. The night before he left, I stayed up in my room for a long time. I prayed and I cried and I wrote a long letter to my dad. I told him how much I loved him and how much I would miss him. I told him that I was praying for him and wanted him to know that, no matter what, Jesus and I loved him. I told him that I would always and forever be his Krissie...his Noodles. As I folded my note, I stuck in a picture of me with a saying I had always heard: “Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a daddy.”

我一直深信我父母的婚姻很美满，但是当我——四个孩子中最小的一个——快满十六岁的时候，我这种想法受到了严峻的考验。以前父亲都会帮忙做些家务杂活的，但是他渐渐地变得泄气沮丧。从工厂下班回到家中直到上床睡觉，他几乎不跟母亲或者我们说一句话。很明显，父母亲的关系非常紧张。有一天，母亲让我们兄弟姐妹坐下来，告诉我们说父亲决定离开这个家，但是我对此完全没有心理准备。我能想到的就是我将要成为离婚家庭的产物。我从来没想过会发生这样的事，所以非常悲痛。我不断地告诉自己说爸妈不会离婚的，但是当我知道父亲真的要走的时候，我呆若木鸡。在他走之前的那一晚，我在自己的房间里熬到深夜。我祈祷，哭泣，然后写了一封长信给我父亲。我告诉他我有多么地爱他，我以后会多么地想念他。我告诉他我正在为他祈祷，而且希望他知道，无论如何上帝和我都会爱他。我告诉他我会永远都是他的小克莉丝……他的“面条”。折好这封信之后，我还塞了一张自己的照片进去，上面写着一句我常常听到的习语：“任何人都可以成为父亲，但是并非人人都能成为‘爹地’。”

Early the next morning, as my dad left our house, I sneaked out to the car and slipped my letter into one of his bags.

第二天早上，我趁父亲走出房子的时候，偷偷溜到小汽车里，把这封信放进他其中的一个背包里。

Two weeks went by with hardly a word from my father. Then, one afternoon, I came home from school to find my mom sitting at the dining room table waiting to talk to me. I could see in her eyes that she had been crying. She told me that Dad had been there and that they had talked for a long time. They decided that there were things that the both of them could and would change and that their marriage was worth saving. Mom then turned her focus to my eyes.

两个星期过去了，父亲几乎音信全无。然后，一天下午，我放学回家后看到母亲坐在饭厅的餐桌旁，等着跟我谈一谈。我从她的眼睛可以看出她刚哭过。她告诉我父亲曾经来过，还和她谈了好久。他们认为，他们之间有很多地方可以改善，并且在将来也会得到改善，而且他们的婚姻值得挽救。然后妈妈把目光转过来，望着我的眼睛。