聚少离多女儿情 (w English)

2018年的最后一天，却是一年中最寒冷的一天。早晨起来时还是阳光灿烂,  不料，气温突然间骤然下降，外面开始刮起了好大的冷风，太阳也躲了起来。我网上好像扫到一眼新闻的标题, 今天是123年最冷的天气？我赶紧查今天西雅图的天气： 最低气温零下1度，结冰。望着女儿的行装，我一再要求她穿上一条类似棉毛裤之类的内裤，人家坚决拒之。这里长大的孩子就是如此。我只好又找出一条围巾、一顶帽子，软硬兼施地哄她带上，备用。

中午时分，我带她去附近的大公园最后走了走。在家的两个星期，时间一晃而过，她要忙着见同学，忙着开party，而我要忙着做饭，逛街买东西，真正坐下来好好说话的时间并不多，连最近的公园都没有时间带她去(好在她算是很赏脸地读完我的上一篇博文《女儿回家的日子》中英文都仔细读了)。一年多了，正在建设中的公园，变化很大。我们在冷风中匆匆走了走，便折身回去了。

回到家，便开始收拾行装。行李快收拾完毕的时候，发现箱子还有些空地，她就去车库的箱子里翻出她高中时读过的两本薄一点的小说The Great Getsby和 To Kill a Mockingbird. 我拿出书架上自己读过的 The Thornbird，推荐给她，她看了看厚厚的一大本，随即掏出手机查了查，发现Kindle上只要$2，就说准备上Kindle看。网络时代真是太方便了。

就在收拾完行装的那一霎间，她突然靠近我，掉起了眼泪，说不想回去。我抱着她说，要是想家了，可以随时回来。年纪轻，天空这么大，你应该出去看世界的。 The sky is the limit. 女儿点点头, 很快擦干眼泪，从包里掏出一个小笔记本和一支笔，坐在桌前。我问她要做什么？她说，她想把回去要做的事脑子里整理一下，写下来。 我放心地下楼做饭。

下午三点多，某人和我一起去送她。再别机场时，我们都不再伤感， 看着她平静地拉起箱杆， 背着包走进去，跟我们挥手告别，随后消失在大厅转弯处。

当我拖着有点疲乏的身子回到家中，钻进了温暖的被窝时， 却立刻想起到达后要在寒风中行走的女儿，想着她又要一个人在异乡独自生活，心中除了牵挂，就是祝福。

聚少离多，就是现在的常态和需要面对的，而独立又是孩子成长的必经之路。我们做父母的，在把孩子培养成人，完成这一责任后， 该是学会放手，学会享受空巢的日子，因它有着另外一种美。珍惜这段真正属于自己的时光吧，做一些以前没有时间做的事，因为这样的时光或许并不长，我在心里对自己如是说。

A pink suit hung in the closet caught my attention one day. It used to have a knee high dress that goes with it, but that must be buried deep somewhere in a suitcase, as I never got a chance to wear it any longer. I took the upper part out of closet and showed it to my daughter if she was interested.  Without an expected No, she looked at it smilingly, knowing that it was Mom’s wedding suit. She took it over, examined it and put it on. It fits her. She went to a dressing mirror, adjusted here and there, then told me pink is the year’s popular color and is in fashion.

“That means yes?” I was not sure.

“There are wrinkles” She tried to smooth them out with her hands.

“That is easy to fix.” I said eagerly, afraid of her changing mind.

The next minutes found me ironing it gingerly, and securing the loose buttons in place.

Honestly this 100% wool material is of high quality. Being well preserved, it still looks in very good shape. It cost me more than 800 yuan at the time, almost twice of my monthly salary. That was in mid 1990s. I brought it with me here and only wore it for a few times before storing it away, as the color and style no longer suit an aging woman:)

I am so glad that fashion goes around in a circle, and  the 20- year-plus suit found a new owner today.  The suit bears some of my fond memories, and handing it down to my daughter and imagining her in the lively pink color gives me a sensation of her resuming my youth that was long gone.