家,心之所在（双语有声）
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爱思英语编者按：家,乃心之所在。不管你的房子是大还是小，是豪宅还是陋室，一间拥有爱、笑声和欢乐的房子才是真正的家。 家,心之所在 Old House,Warm Memories Dusting off the collection of photos that 1)grace our family room wall, I lingered over the water color painting I had done of the old house, a gift to Bill, before that house was torn down to make room for the new one. It seems like decades ago that we occupied that small two bedroom, gray 2)sided home. Memories continued to flow freely as I stared at the home that Bill and I had lived in for over 23 years, and also the place where our two daughters grew up. In the painting, the house is 3)depicted in all its summer time glory—4)lush pink, red, white and purple flowers overflowed in the flower beds that, by August, resembled tall colorful bushes in all their flowering 5)finery. The proof was there right on the wall. When we bought the house we fell in love with its 6)cozy, 7)livedin charm.
What we learned was that old-fashioned charm 8)translated into lots of repairs. That old house was far from perfect, but the memories 9)invoked are 10)priceless. I’m particularly remembering back to when the girls were young. It was raining one Saturday afternoon and they wanted to play on their swing set. Bill went to the garage and returned with 4 huge round 11)eye hooks and his 12)trusty 13)power drill. He went to work drilling the 14)heavy duty 15)bolts into the frame of the kitchen doorways. Then he went back outside to 16)retrieve the swings. A few seconds later the girls were happily swinging from the kitchen doorways—laughing and 17)squealing with delight over their rainy day adventure. Another time, Bill came home with an over-sized plastic slide. I foolishly asked him where he thought he was going to put it as our house was way too small to accommodate such a big toy. He gave me a look like I was the 18)loony one and told me it would fit just fine in the 19)frontroom. When it was discovered that the slide wasn’t 20)slick enough Bill had a solution—some baby powder sprinkled on the surface! It was smooth sliding all the way. Afterwards, my clever 21)hubby 22)vacuumed up the powder on the rug, and the front-room was 23)none the worse for wear. I guess the reason for 24)flashing back to these memories is the fact that we are now grandparents. This new turning point in our lives has definitely brought out the kid in us. Oh, and I’m also looking at the familiar hooks in the door frame. We have a double doorway that divides the family room and my home office. Bill sized it up one day and decided it would be a great spot to hang a swing for our granddaughters. At first I 25)balked at the idea. I resisted, but then I remembered the fun the swinging sisters had and I 26)relented. The bolts were screwed in and a pink baby swing gets hooked up whenever our little angel Avery wants to go for a ride. Our new house is a perfect home compared to the one we lived in for so many years. It is big, beautiful and can handle any ideas that my dear hubby can 27)concoct. Last Christmas the girls had another painting done, this one of the new house. It is hung right next to the old one, and in between them is a silver heart that says, “Home is where you hang your heart. It doesn’t matter if your house is big or small, 28)fancy or 29)plain. It takes love, laughter and joy to make a house a home.” I’m looking forward to the years ahead with my grandkids, those here and those yet to be born. I hope our house will be a home they’ll have fond memories of, whether they’ll be sliding, swinging or dancing their way into the future. |
