母亲的礼物WhereverYouAre
罗杰·迪安·凯泽RogerDeanKiser
&hesch，IheadedoutthebaddParkRoad。Itwasnoteasyforaten-year-old，runawayboytowalkthestreetsofJaville，Florida。ItraveledforwhatseemedtobemilesbeforeIaiBridge。Iwalked，asfastasIchthedowingforsomethi。
ImademywaydowntoBayStreetaoodinthedoorwayofthebusstatiohedirtylookingbumsdrankfromtheirbrsahoher。
“Sonny!yougointothatstoreacrossthestreetandthesehereglassbottlesforme?I’llbuyyouady，”saidtheold>
“Sure。Idothatf，”Itoldher。
Iloadedthebottlesioreafewatatime。Herlargewoodentypewagoncartwasfilledtothetopwithallvarietiesofsodabottles。
IthebottlesandIwalkedbackoutofthestiveherthemoney。
“oforme，Sonny?”sheaskedme。
“’tyout?”Iquestioned。
“It’snotthat，Sonny。Ijust’tseeverywell，”shetoldme。
AsIstoodthereoweboysandbeganpulliail。Ohebrabthemoneyfromourhaherboypulledherbackwards。Iimmediatelyyhandsahegrtocatchtheswhichhadfallen。
“OUCH!”Iyelledoutasoompedonmyhand，pinningittotheground。
“Boy，yousurestinklady，”saidoheboys。
“Youboysgoonnow。Leaveusaloatthetwo。
“Shutupyouretardedoldbag!”yelledtheyoungmaedacrossthestreetwithhisfriend。
Igotbaykneesamoaihemoneyainherhands。
“Yousuretsawfulglittlelikeyouare。Andyoutfasttoo。”shesaid，asshelaughed。
&ardedtoo，likeme?”Iaskedtheold>
“Youaiardedboy。Youassmartasawhip。Lookhowfastyout。Aetoo。”shereplied。
“Youreallythinkso?”Isaid，withabigsmileonmyfadmyeyesopenwide。
Fortheremaiheday，Iwalkedaroundaheoldwoman。Istayedasclosetoheraspossible，allthewhilehopingthatshewouldonsaysomethime。
Throughouttheyears，Ihaveoftenthoughtaboutthatoldeciallywhehredseesomeonepushingashoppingthestreet。
Itohetimesthatanygrownadultevergavemeaentormademefeelproudofmyself。Thefewtimesthatitdidhappeheexperiencelikeaspongesoakingup
Irememberexactlywhatshelookedlikealyhowshesmelled。Irememberherlegsbeingfatattheahemanyveinsinherlegsweredarkandbroken。Herlipswereroughanddherhandsweresdshehadmaherhandsandwrists。
ButwhatIremembermostaboutherwasherkindsmile。
Notthekindoflookthatoheyactuallysmile—itwasalookthatshemusthavebeenbornwith—ailewhichstayedonherfawheiopbench。Irememberaheafternoononthedaywemet。Istoodforawhile，watgherasshedisappearedintotheevening。
Ineversawheragai。
Butthatwasokaywithme。
&wasonlyforamoment，shegavemewhatIneededfroma“mother”—thethoughtthatImighthatIwashandsome，aofall，thatIwas“smartasawhip。”
Thosefewwordsturofeelingsandtheyfollowedmeforthe50yearsofmylife。
Thisyear，theMother’sDayflowersareforyou。Whereveryouare。
下课铃一响，我就冲出后门，沿着斯普林公园路而下。对于一个十岁的逃学孩子而言，走在佛罗里达杰克逊维尔的大街上并不是件悠闲的事。我走了漫长的一段路，才穿过缅街桥。我尽量加快脚步，准备穿过市区去找些东西吃。
走到海湾路，我停下来站在公共汽车站门口。我看到脏兮兮的流浪汉喝着牛皮纸袋里的东西，并互相吵闹着。
“小家伙！你能到对面的店里帮我把瓶子换成钱吗？我会给你买糖吃。”一位老妇人说。
“好的，不过我什么都不要。”我对她说。我每次只能拿一点瓶子到商店。因为她那木制的大手正推着堆满了各种各样汽水瓶的车子。
我进商店把瓶子换成现金，然后出来交给她。