Although I had never met him, I knew that my grandfather had been five feet, six inches tall, while my stately grandmother stood five feet, eleven inches. As a teen-ager leafing through old photographs with Grandma, I finally realized how unusual they must have looked together.

　　"Grandma, " I asked, "how could you have fallen in love with a man five inches shorter than you?"

　　She turned to me. "Honey," she said, "we fell in love sitting down, and when I stood up, it was too late."

　　尽管我从未见过我祖父，但我知道他身高五英尺六，而我高贵的祖母身高五英尺十一。十几岁的时候，我和祖母一起一页一页地翻着老照片，我终于认识到他们在一起是多么不同寻常。

　　“奶奶，”我问道，“你怎么会爱上一个比你矮五英寸的人呢？”

　　她转过脸来看着我。“宝贝，”她说，“我们是坐着相爱的。当我站起来的时候，已经太晚了。”