Passage A Freshman Friendship
Almost two years ago, I stood on a balcony, joined hands with my three most intimate friends and listened to one of them tell a story about four girls with different backgrounds and talents who left home and went to college at a mythical place called Happy Valley.
After we left our friend's apartment that last night of our freshman year, we ended up on the lawn, playing frisbee at 3 a.m. and sitting on the dormitory steps talking for hours.
Alisa, Karen, Gabrielle and I had spent that day together just being freshmen ---- going to the sandwich shop for the last lunch of the semester, trying on each other's clothes, watching movies and acting like we would never see each other again.
Three Months is a Long Time
For freshmen, and especially for us, saying goodbye at the end of the first year can feel like saying goodbye forever.
Three months can seem like a long time when you are leaving friends and acquaintances whom you have only known for a year. Your freshman year moments are irreplaceable.
My advice to any freshmen reading this is to cherish those moments. You may grow completely apart from the people you spent your first year with, or you may find yourself fortunately comparing them to siblings at the end of your junior year as I did.
Even if you have almost forgotten your freshman year roommates two years later, and barely recognize them when you encounter them in front of the gymnasium, you can never replace that year and the brand-new feeling that your first year of college brings.
A lot will change after your freshman year. You will meet new people and do new things. You will do a lot more growing up.
At the beginning of our senior year, Karen took her hometown boyfriend Kevin on a tour of campus and downtown. "That's where we grew up," she told him, motioning toward Atherton Hall, where the four of us spent our first two years at Penn State.
We learned more outside the classroom than we learned inside it. That dorm is where we learned and discussed the lessons of our freshman and sophomore years. I think the principal lesson I learned was the definition of true friendship. And I have never had nor will ever have better teachers than Alisa, Karen and Gabrielle.
That lesson can best be summarized by something Alisa and Karen told me when I was upset at the end of last semester and needed a shoulder to cry on. They said no matter how far we drift apart or who else we become friends with after college, we will always incline to recall each other first whenever we think of college.
I couldn't agree more.
The story Alisa told on that balcony is far from over. I sometimes wonder if the following is how it will end:
"…and those four little girls grew up and realized their dreams. They found themselves all over the country, from farms, to cities, to the suburbs, doing everything they wanted to do - a computer technician, a physician, an attorney, and an architect – with the companions they wanted in husbands, children and pets.
And occasionally they would make it back to reunions at that mythical valley and see their old friends, laughing about the good times. They had succeeded in forgetting any of the bad times.
And they lived happily ever after."
A篇 新生的友谊
大约两年前，我与三个最亲密的朋友手拉手站在寝室的阳台上，听其中一个讲述有关四个女孩的故事。这四个女孩背景不同，天赋各异。她们离开家，来到大学校园，一个叫作"幸福谷"的神秘地方。
大学一年级的最后一个晚上，我们离开朋友的寝室，来到校园的草坪上，在凌晨三点玩起了飞盘，然后坐在宿舍的台阶上一聊就是好几个小时。
艾莉莎、卡伦、加布里埃尔莉和我就像大学新生一样度过了那一天。我们去了三明治店享受那个学期的最后一顿午餐，换穿彼此的外衣，去电影院看电影，仿佛我们再也不会相见。
漫长的三个月
对新生来说，特别是对我们来说，在第一年的年末相互道别确实就像要永别似的。
当你离开刚认识一年的朋友和熟人，三个月也许是一段漫长的时间。但大学第一年的时光却是无法替代的。
我给每一位读到这篇文章的新生的建议是：珍惜那段时光。随着你成长，也许将完全远离那些与你一起共同度过大学一年级生活的人，或者你也许能像我一样幸运，能在大学三年级有她们这些情同手足的朋友。
即使两年以后，你可能几乎完全忘却了大学一年级时候的室友，在体育馆门口碰到时也几乎认不出他们，但是大学第一年和这一年所带给你的全新感觉却是绝对无法替代的。
第一年过后，很多东西都会改变。遇到新朋友，尝试新事物。你会在成长过程中经历更多的事情。
大学四年级开始的时候，卡伦带着她家乡的男友凯文游览我们这座城市和参观我们的校园。她指着我们在宾夕法尼亚州的头两年住过的阿瑟特顿大厦说："这就是我们长大的地方。" 我们在课外学到的东西要比课内多。寝室是我们学习讨论大一和大二的功课的地方。我学到的最重要的东西就是真正的友谊是什么。我从未有过比艾莉莎、卡伦、加布里埃尔莉更好的良师益友，以前没有，将来也不会有。
那一课可以用艾莉莎和卡伦对我说过的一番话来做一个最好的总结。当时是最后一个学期期末，我很难过，需要靠在一个人肩上痛哭一场。艾莉莎和卡伦对我说："不管以后我们各奔东西相距多远，也不管毕业以后我们交上任何别的朋友，只要我们想起大学生活，我们首先就会想起彼此。"
我完全同意。
艾莉莎在阳台上讲的那个关于友情的故事还远远没有结束。有时候，我想故事的结局会不会是这样：
"…那四个小女孩长大了，实现了自己的梦想。她们现在天各一方，做自己想做的事情，从农村到城市，到郊区都能找到她们的身影，--一个是电脑技师，一个是医生，一个是律师，还有一个成了建筑师，有自己心爱的丈夫、孩子和宠物相伴。
有时候，她们还会回到那个神秘的山谷，与老朋友见面，笑谈那些美好的时光。将失意完全抛到脑后。从此过着幸福的生活。"
Passage B Love Beyond the Grave?
Red roses were her favorites, her name was also Rose. And every year, her husband sent them, tied with pretty bows. The year he passed away, the roses were delivered to her door. The enclosed card said, "Be My Valentine," like all the years before.
Each year he sent her roses, the notes would always say, "I love you even more this year than last year on this day." or "My love for you will always grow with each passing year." The year he passed away, she was sure it was the last time that the roses would appear on her front door
She thought he must have ordered the roses in advance before this day. Her loving husband did not know that he would die. He always liked to do things very promptly, long before the deadline. In this way, if he was occupied, everything would still work out appropriately.
She trimmed the stems, and inserted them symbolically in a very special vase. She would sit for hours, in her husband's favorite chair while staring blankly at his photograph and the roses sitting there.
A year went by and it was difficult to endure without her mate. With loneliness and solitude, that tragedy has become her fate. Then, at that identical hour, as on Valentines Day before, the doorbell rang and there were red roses sitting by her door.
She brought the roses in and then just looked at them in astonishment. Then, she went to get the telephone and called the florist who had delivered the roses. The owner answered and she asked him if he would explain why someone would unexpectedly do this to her, provoking such intense pain?
“I know your husband passed away more than a year ago," the owner said. "I knew you'd call and you would want to know," he proceeded. "The flowers you received today were paid for in advance. Your husband always planned ahead, he left nothing to chance."
"There is a standing purchase and delivery order that I have on file down here. And he has paid, well in advance, so you'll get them every year. There is also another thing that I think you should know. He wrote a special little card, which he did several years ago."
"Then should ever I find out that he is no longer around, that's the card that should be sent to you the following year." She thanked him and hung up the phone, her tears now flowing hard. Her fingers were shaking, as she haltingly reached to get the card.
Inside the card, she saw that he had written a note. As she stared in absolute silence, this was what he wrote...
"Hello my love, I know it's been a year since I've departed. I loved you more than words can say. You were the perfect wife and the ideal companion. You were my friend and lover. You fulfilled my every need."
"When you get these roses, think of all the happiness that we had together and how both of us were blessed to have each other. The roses will come every year and they will only stop when your door's not answered, when the florist stops to deliver and knock on the door.
"He will come five times that day, in case you should be out. But after his last visit, he will know without a doubt, to take the roses to the place where I've instructed him, and place the roses where we are, together once again."
B篇 超越生死的爱？
她最喜欢红玫瑰，她的名字也叫"玫瑰"。每年丈夫都会用漂亮的蝴蝶结扎上一束美丽的玫瑰送给她。丈夫去世的那一年，玫瑰依旧送到了她的门前。像以往的每年一样，玫瑰中的卡片上写着："献给我心爱的人。"
每一年他送玫瑰，卡片上都会写着："我爱你一年胜似一年"，或"我对你的爱将与日俱增"。丈夫去世的那年，她相信那将是最后一次玫瑰在门前出现。
她想丈夫一定是在这天以前提前预定了玫瑰花。她亲爱的丈夫并不知道自己会离她而去。他总习惯把事情提前办好，大大早于预定日期。这样一来，就算他很忙，事情也会进展顺利。
她理了理玫瑰的根茎，把它们郑重地插在一个很特别的花瓶里，然后坐在丈夫最喜爱的椅子上，失神地凝视着他的照片，一坐就是几个小时，玫瑰就放在照片旁边。
一年过去了，没有丈夫陪伴的生活是如此的难熬。孤独、寂寞，她的生活仿佛一场悲剧。情人节那天，又是同样的时刻，门铃响了，一束红玫瑰放在她家门前。
她把玫瑰花拿进屋，望着这些玫瑰吃惊不已。随后，她给送花的花店老板打了电话。老板接的电话，她问他到底是谁要这样出人意料的对她做这种事，勾起她无限的忧伤。
"我知道您的丈夫一年多以前去世了"花店老板说，"我也知道您会打电话过来问的，"他接着说，"您今天收到的玫瑰，是预先付过帐的。您丈夫总是预先计划好一切，不会遗漏任何一件事情。"
"我这儿有一份长期订单，您的丈夫早就把钱付了。所以您以后仍将每年收到玫瑰花。另外，还有一件事情得跟您说，您丈夫几年前给您写了一张特别的小卡片。"
"如果哪一年他不在了，我就会在第二年把这张卡片交给您。"她跟老板道谢，然后挂了电话，泪水止不住往下流。犹疑踯躅中，她抽出了那张卡片，手指禁不住颤抖起来。
卡片里有她丈夫写的一封短信。她看着信，四周一片寂静。信是这样写的…
"亲爱的，离开你已经有一年了。对你的爱无法用言语表达。你是个完美的妻子，理想的伴侣。是我的朋友，也是我的恋人。让我无比满足。"
"当你收到这些玫瑰的时候，想想我们在一起的快乐时光吧，我们如此幸运，因为彼此拥有对方。你每年都将收到我的玫瑰，除非花店来送花的时候没有人应门。"
"送花的人会在那天上门五次，主要是怕你不在。但是如果第五次还敲不开你的门，他也知道该怎么办。他将把这些玫瑰送到我告诉过他的地方，那个我们俩重新相聚的地方。"下载本文
