She was beautiful too. When a local photographer used her pictures in his monthly window display, she was flattered. Her favorite portrait showed her sitting by Lake Michigan, her hair windblown, her gaze reaching toward the horizon. My mother always used to say that when you died, God gave you back your "best self". She'd show us that picture and say, "This is what I'm going to look like in heaven."
母亲长得也很美。那时当地有位摄影师把她的照片放在一月一换的橱窗里展览，她心里美滋滋的。母亲最心爱的照片是她坐在密歇根湖畔照的，照片上，她的头发被风吹起，眼睛眺望着远方。母亲总说，一个人死后，上帝会归还他“他最美好的形象”。她会给我们看这张照片并说；“这就是日后我在天堂里的样子。”
My parents were married in 1944. Dad was a quiet and intelligent man who was 17 when he left Italy. Soon after, a hit-and-run accident left him with a permanent limp. Dad worked hard selling candy to Chicago office workers on their break. He had little formal schooling. His English was self-taught. Yet he eventually built a small, successful wholesale candy business. Dad was generous, handsome and deeply religious. Mama was devoted to him.
我的父母是在1944年结婚的。父亲话不多，人很聪明，17岁离开意大利。此后不久，发生了一起车祸，肇事者逃了，却使父亲只能终身跛行了。他工作勤奋，向工间休息的芝加哥办公楼的工作人员兜售糖果。父亲没受过什么正规教育，他的英语是自学的。然而最终他开起了一家小型的糖果批发店，生意很红火。爸爸为人慷慨，相貌英俊，还是一个虔诚的教徒。妈妈深深地爱着他。
After she married, my mother quit her job and gave herself to her family. In 1950, with three children, Dad moved the family to a farm 40 miles from Chicago. He worked the land and commuted to the city to run his business. Mama said good-by to her parents and friends and traded her busy city neighborhood for a more isolated life. But she never complained. By 1958, our modest white farmhouse was filled with six children, and Mama was delighted.
婚后，母亲辞去工作，一心照顾家庭。1950年，爸爸带着 3个孩子把家搬到了离芝加哥40英里的一家农场。他一面在农场干活，一面往返芝加哥做他的糖果批发生意。妈妈也告别了父母和朋友及快节奏的城市生活，过起了离群索居的日子。但她从无怨言。到1958年，我们这座简朴的农场白色小屋里有了六个孩子，妈妈非常高兴。
"Think Big". My mother never studied books on parenting. Yet she knew how to raise children. She heightened our self-esteem and helped us reach our potential.
“胸怀大志” 母亲从没看过生儿育女方面的书籍，然而她懂得该如何教育子女。她激发我们的自尊心，并帮助我们发挥自己的潜能。
One fall day, I sat at the kitchen table while Mama peeled potatoes. She spied Dad out the window on his tractor and smiled. "Your father has accomplished so much, ' she said proudly. "He really is somebody."
秋季的一天，我坐在厨房桌子旁边，母亲在削土豆皮。她透过窗子看到父亲坐在拖拉机上，笑了。“你爸爸已卓有成就了，”她自豪地说。“他真是个了不起的人!”