“Susan，” she said thoughtfully， “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears， but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt， then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime， but it’s really there. Love is inside.”
I listened carefully but I couldn’t understand her until the next spring. At that time， my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital， they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness.
After they were back， every day in the morning and dusk， my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious couple. Along the country road， there were many beautiful flowers， green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.
The doctor had said my father would recover in two months. But after two months he still couldn’t walk by himself. All of us were worried about him.
“Dad， how are you feeling now？” I asked him one day.
“Susan， don’t worry about me.” he said gently. “To tell you the truth， I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life.” Reading his eyes， I know he loves my mother deeply.
Once I thought love meant flowers， gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience， I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside， making life strong and warm..
有时候，我真的怀疑父母之间是否有真爱。他们天天忙于赚钱，为我和弟弟支付学费。他们从未像我在书中读到，或在电视中看到的那样互诉衷肠。他们认为“我爱你”太奢侈，很难说出口。更不用说在情人节送花这样的事了。我父亲的脾气非常坏。经过一天的劳累之后，他经常会发脾气。
一天，母亲正在缝被子，我静静地坐在她旁边看着她。
过了一会，我说：“妈妈，我想问你一个问题。”
“什么问题？”她一边继续缝着，一边回答道。
我低声地问道：“你和爸爸之间有没有爱情啊？”
母亲突然停下了手中的活，满眼诧异地抬起头。她没有立即作答。然后低下头，继续缝被子。
我担心伤害了她。我非常尴尬，不知道该怎么办。不过，后来我听见母亲说：
“苏珊，看看这些线。有时候，你能看得见，但是大多数都隐藏在被子里。这些线使被子坚固耐用。如果生活就像一床被子，那么爱就是其中的线。你不可能随时随地看到它，但是它却实实在在地存在着。爱是内在的。”
我仔细地听着，却无法明白她的话，直到来年的春天。那时候，我父亲得了重病。母亲在医院里待了一个月。当他们从医院回来的时候，都显得非常苍白。就像他们都得了一场重病一样。
他们回来之后，每天的清晨或黄昏，母亲都会搀扶着父亲在乡村的小路上漫步。父亲从未如此温和过。他们就像是天作之合。在小路旁边，有许多美丽的野花、绿草和树木。阳光穿过树叶的缝隙，温柔地照射在地面上。这一切形成了一幅世间最美好的画面。
医生说父亲将在两个月后康复。但是两个月之后，他仍然无法独立行走。我们都很为他担心。
有一天，我问他：“爸爸，你感觉怎么样？”
他温和地说：“苏珊，不用为我担心。跟你说吧，我喜欢与你妈妈一块散步的感觉。我喜欢这种生活。”从他的眼神里，我看得出他对母亲的爱之深刻。
我曾经认为爱情就是鲜花、礼物和甜蜜的亲吻。但是从那一刻起，我明白了，爱情就像是生活中被子里的一根线。爱情就在里面，使生活变得坚固而温暖。
因为缺点而幸福
Happy because shortcomings
A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large celebration.
All of their friends and family came to see the lovely ceremony and to partake of the festivities and celebrations. All had a wonderful time.
The bride was gorgeous in her white wedding gown and the groom was very dashing1 in his black tuxedo2. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later， the wife came to the husband with a proposal， “I read in a magazine， a while ago， about how we can strengthen our marriage，” she offered， “each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying3 with the other person. Then， we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together.”
The husband agreed. So each of them went to a separate room in the house and thought of the things that annoyed them about the other. They thought about this question for the rest of the day and wrote down what they came up with.
The next morning， at the breakfast table， they decided that they would go over their lists. “I’ll start，” offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it. Enough to fill 3 pages， in fact. As she started reading the list of the little annoyances， she noticed that tears were starting to ap－pear in her husband’s eyes.
“What’s wrong？” she asked. “Nothing，” the husband replied， “keep reading your list.”
The wife continued to read until she had read all three pages to her husband. She neatly placed her list on the table and folded her hands over the top of it.
“Now， you read your list and then we’ll talk about the things on both of our lists，” she said happily.
Quietly the husband stated， “I don’t have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect the way that you are. I don’t want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn’t want to try and change any－thing about you.”
The wife， touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her， turned her head and wept4.
In life， there are enough times when we are disap－pointed， depressed and annoyed. We don’t really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty， light and promise. Why waste time in this world looking for the bad， disappointing or annoying when we can look around us， and see the wondrous5 things before us？
一个男人和他的女朋友结婚，举行了一场盛大的结婚庆典。
所有的朋友和家人都来到结婚典礼上参加婚宴和庆祝活动。大家都过得很开心。
穿着白色婚纱的新娘漂亮迷人，穿着黑色礼服的新郎英俊潇洒。每个人都能看出他们彼此的爱是真诚的。
几个月后，妻子走近丈夫提议说：“我刚才在杂志上看到一篇文章，说的是怎样巩固婚姻。”她说，“我们两个人都各自把对方的小毛病列在一张纸上，然后我们商量一下怎样解决，以便使我们的生活更幸福。”
丈夫同意了。于是他们各自走向不同的房间去想对方的缺点。那一天余下的时间里，他们都在思考这个问题，并且把他们想到的都写下来。
第二天早上，吃早饭的时候，他们决定谈谈彼此的缺点。“我先开始吧。”妻子说。她拿出她的单子，上面列举了很多条，事实上，足足写满了三页。当她开始念的时候，她注意到丈夫眼里含着泪花。
“怎么啦？”她问。“没什么。”丈夫答道，“继续念吧。”
妻子又接着念。整整三页都念完之后她把单子整齐地放在桌上，两手交叉放在上面。
“现在该你念了，然后我们谈谈所列举的缺点。”她高兴地说。
丈夫平静地说：“我什么也没写，我觉得像你这样就很完美了，我不想让你为我改变什么。你很可爱迷人，我不想让你改变。”
妻子被丈夫的诚实和对她深深的爱和接纳感动了，她转过头去哭起来。
生命中我们有很多的失望、沮丧和烦恼，我们根本不需要寻找。我们美妙的世界充满了美丽、光明和希望。但是，当我们放眼四周时，为什么浪费时间寻找不快、失望和烦恼，而看不到我们面前的美好事物呢？