To love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another.
By Gottfried Wilhelm Van Lubreitz
As the movie came to an end the room filled with chatter. The warm fire, twinkling Christmas lights and laughter from family brought a contented smile to my face. The minute mom said, "Who wants...", the room emptied quicker than the stands at a losing football game.
My boyfriend Todd and I were the only ones left. With a bewildered look on his face he asked me what just happened. Catching the laughter on my mom's face, I said to Todd, "We are going to go put gas in my mom's car."
He quickly replied, "It's freezing out there, and it's almost 11:30 p.m."
Smiling, I said, "Then you had better put on your coat and gloves."
After hurriedly chipping the frost off the windshield, we bundled into the car. On the way to the gas station, Todd asked me to explain why in the world we were going to get my mom gas so late at night. Chuckling, I said, "When my siblings and I come home for the holidays, we help my dad get gas for my mom. It has turned into a game with all of us. We can tell when my mom is going to ask and the last one in the room has to go."
"You have got to be kidding me!" Todd responded.
"There is no getting out of it," I said.
While pumping the gas, we clapped our hands and jumped around to stay warm. "I still don't get it. Why doesn't your mom put the gas in the car herself ?" Todd asked.
With mirth in my eyes, I said, "I know it sounds insane, but let me explain. My mom has not pumped gas in over two decades. My dad always pumps gas for her. "With a confused look, Todd asked if my dad was ever annoyed with having to pump gas for his wife all the time. Shaking my head, I simply said, "No, he has never complained."
"That's crazy,"Todd quickly replied.
记 分 牌(I)
刘平 孟庆君 译
爱，就是把我们的幸福融入他人的幸福之中。
——戈特弗里德·威廉·范·卢布赖茨
电影临近尾声的时候，房间里一片议论声。暖暖的炉火，闪烁的圣诞彩灯和家人发出的笑声令我满足，由衷的笑容在脸上绽放开来。妈妈刚说出“谁想……”，大家便一哄而散，其速度之快，更甚于观众们离开一场输掉的球赛的看台。
房间里只剩下了我的男友——托德和我两个人。托德一脸茫然，问我刚才是怎么回事儿。望着妈妈脸上的笑容，我告诉他，“我们要去给妈妈的汽车加油。”
他立即说道：“外面太冷了，而且都快晚上11点半了。”
我笑着对他说，“那你最好穿上大衣，戴上手套。”
匆匆忙忙除去挡风玻璃上的霜，我们赶紧钻进车里。去加油站的路上，托德问我为什么非得在夜里这么晚的时候去给妈妈的车加油。我轻声一笑，跟他说：“我们兄妹放假回家后，总要帮爸爸去给妈妈的车加油。对我们来说，这已经变成一种游戏。我们能猜到妈妈什么时候会提出来，而留在房间里的最后一个就得去给她加油。”
“你一定是在开玩笑！”托德说道。
“我是认真的。”我说。
车子加油的时候，我们不停地拍着手，并跳来跳去以免冻僵了。“我还是不懂。你妈妈怎么不自己给汽车加油？”托德问道。
我笑盈盈地盯着他说：“我知道这听起来不可思议，等我慢慢告诉你。妈妈有20多年没有亲自给车加油了，一直是爸爸帮她加油。”托德更糊涂了，他问我难道这么长时间以来，我爸爸一直给妈妈加油就没烦过。我摇摇头告诉他，“没有，他从未抱怨过。”
“难以置信。”托德叹道。
