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“I love you, Mom. See you tomorrow.”
“我爱您，妈妈。明天见。”
I said these words every day as I kissed my mom goodbye.
每天在跟妈妈吻别的时候，我都会说这些话。
Most girls I know don’t tell their mothers they love them when they say goodbye.
我认识的大多数女孩在跟妈妈说再见的时候，都不会告诉妈妈自己爱她。
But I wasn’t like girls I knew.
可是，我不像她们。
As a baby, I was adopted by two loving people who were willing to take me into their home.
还是个婴儿的时候，我就被一对有爱心的人收养了，他们愿意把我带到他们的家里。
They became not only my parents, but also my best friends.
他们不仅成为我的父母，也成了我最好的朋友。
As I was growing up, I learned that my birth mother was very young when she had me and wasn’t able to care for me.
当我渐渐长大，我知道我的生母在怀我的时候还很年轻，没有能力抚养我。
I understood and was thankful.
我能理解这些，并且对这一切充满感激。
After all, I ended up with two people who loved each other very much, and also loved me.
毕竟，我最终遇上了一对互敬互爱的人，而且他们爱我。
Three years later, they adopted another baby, Lori.
三年后，这对夫妇又收养了另外一个孩子——洛里。
Until I was nine, I didn’t understand why my parents didn’t have any children of their own.
直到9岁，我才明白为什么我的父母没要一个他们自己的孩子。
Then my father explained that they had tried many times, but they were unsuccessful.
那时，爸爸解释说，他们尝试过很多次，但是都没有成功。
Part of the reason was that my mom had diabetes.
部分原因是妈妈患有糖尿病。
Since I was young, I didn’t really understand what that meant.
那时我还年幼，不能真正理解那意味着什么。
As I was growing up, I would see my mom give herself shots and wonder why she was the only one who had to do that.
我渐渐长大，看到妈妈为自己打针，我不明白为什么只有她一个人这样做。
All I saw every day was a strong, beautiful, healthy woman, who spent her life helping people.
我每天看到的都是一个坚强、美丽、健康的女人，一生都在帮助别人的女人。
When I was thirteen, everything changed.
我13岁的时候，一切都改变了。
It started with a tiny blister on my mom’s toe.
首先是从妈妈脚趾上的一个小水疱开始的。
This may seem like no big deal, but she ended up losing her toe.
这看上去似乎没什么大不了，但是她差一点就失去了一个脚趾。
Soon she suffered a stroke, and just as she began to recover from that, her leg had to be amputated.
不久之后，妈妈又患了中风，而就在她刚开始恢复的时候，又不得不接受一条腿的截肢手术。
This all took place over three years.
这一切仅仅在三年之内全部发生。
The toll this took on my family was unbelievable.
我们家为此付出的代价简直让人难以置信。
My mom was in and out of five hospitals, each doing their best to help her.
妈妈在五家医院进进出出，每家医院都竭尽所能帮助她。
Sometimes she was home for a few months, but something always seemed to go wrong.
有时妈妈在家里住上几个月，但是这期间总会有一些不妙的事情发生。
When the holidays came, my father, my sister and I spent the day in her hospital room.
假日里，爸爸、妹妹和我就在病房里陪她。
One Thanksgiving we ate turkey there, and another Christmas we brought all our presents to the hospital so she could see us open them.
有一年感恩节，我们还在医院里一起吃火鸡；还有一年圣诞节，我们把所有的礼物都带到医院，让她看着我们把礼物打开。
I tried my hardest to make her feel better, but nothing helped.
我想尽办法想要使她感觉快乐一点，但是一切都是徒劳。
At home, taking care of my little sister became my job, along with cleaning the house, doing the laundry and cooking the meals.
在家里，照看小妹妹成了我的工作，同时我还要打扫房间、洗衣服、做饭。
I thought it was unfair, and took it out on my father.
我觉得这对我不公平，便发泄在爸爸身上。
I hated the fact that all my friends went out on Friday nights, while I had to stay home and play “Mommy”.
我所有的朋友都能在周五晚上出去玩，而我却不得不待在家里，充当“妈妈”的角色，我讨厌这个事实。
It was even harder for me to go to school while my mom was lying in the hospital.
更困难的是，妈妈躺在医院的病床上，我还要去上学。
By now, I was sixteen.
我现在只有16岁。
Luckily she was there for my birthday party, and I’ll never forget hugging her as tears fell down both our faces.
幸运的是，妈妈出席了我的生日聚会，我永远也不会忘记，当我拥抱她的时候，我们母女泪流满面的情景。
I’m still thankful for that moment with my mother because it was the happiest I had seen her in four years.
我至今都对与妈妈在一起的那一刻充满感激，因为那是四年来，我所见到的妈妈最快乐的时刻。
But once again, the happy days became sad.
但是，快乐的日子再一次变成了悲伤。
On June 15, I stayed home from school to take care of her.
6月15日，我没去上学，而是留在家里照顾她。
Once again she was admitted to the hospital.
她再一次被送进医院。
At first, no one could figure out what was wrong.
刚一开始，没人能发现她出现了什么问题。
She remained in intensive care for a week.
妈妈在加护病房里一连待了一星期。
She began to do better.
后来她开始好起来。
Then on July 10 she became very sick, and on the eleventh she almost died.
但是7月10日，她的病情又加重了，到11日时，她已徘徊在生死线上。
It was getting harder and harder to deal with.
病情变得越来越难处理。
Every time she got really sick, she would always come back and do even better.
每一次当她濒临死亡时，她都能起死回生，甚至显得更好些。
When the doctors finally realized why she was so sick, they put her on dialysis, a treatment for her kidneys.
当医生们终于认识到她病情恶化的原因后，他们为她做了肾透析。
It seemed to work on August 17, we visited her and she was doing extremely well.
看起来透析很有效果，8月17日，我们去医院看望她时，她的状况非常好。
When I left, I kissed her and said, “I love you, Mom. See you tomorrow.”
我离开的时候，吻了她，对她说：“我爱您，妈妈。明天见。”
At 6:30 the next morning we received a call telling us she had passed away during the night.
第二天早上六点三十分，我们接到医院的电话，被告知妈妈于昨晚去世了。
Today, a little over a year since my mom left, I am closer to my father and sister.
今天，妈妈离开我们已经一年多了，我与爸爸和妹妹的关系变得更加亲密。
And along with accepting my family responsibilities, I have gained respect for my mom.
在接过了家庭责任的同时，我还因为妈妈得到了别人的尊敬。
I still don’t understand how she managed to accomplish all she did.
我仍然不能明白，妈妈是怎样完成她所有的事业的。
As for being adopted, I have no desire to find my real parents.
身为养女，我并不想找到自己的生身父母。
The ones I have had are the only ones I’ll ever need.
我曾有过的父母才是我唯一需要的父母。
They taught me to be strong and follow my heart.
他们教育我要坚强，要跟随自己的心。
Watching my mom smile through all her pain taught me that I can accomplish anything.
看着妈妈笑对痛苦，我懂得了，我可以完成任何事。
I know she’s with me through this important time in my life, and she’ll guide me in the night direction.
我知道，妈妈正陪我走过生命中这段重要的时光，她会引领我朝正确的方向前进。
“Thank you, Mom! I love you and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“谢谢您，妈妈！我爱您，明天见。”
