文字难度：★★☆
That’s not the way Grandma did it,” my seven-year-old informed me.
奶奶可不是那样弄它的，”我七岁的女儿对我说道。
“I’m sure you’re right honey, but I’m not Grandma,” I replied as I tried to 1)pry a cake out of its pan.
“我相信你是对的，亲爱的，可我不是奶奶。”我一边回答，一边试图把锅里的一张薄饼弄出来。
The special bond between Grandma and Emily was unusual because they were not related biologically. Henrietta volunteered to temporarily keep Emily after our regular 2)sitter could no longer work. By the end of their first afternoon together, Henrietta had become “Grandma” and Emily had found her place.
埃米莉和奶奶的感情很不寻常——她们并没有血缘关系。在定期前来的保姆无法再为我们工作之后，亨利埃塔自告奋勇，承担起临时照看埃米莉的义务。她们只相处了一下午，亨利埃塔就成了埃米莉所喜欢的“奶奶”。
During their seven years together, Grandma had helped teach Emily to walk, read, write, ride a bike, cook, climb trees, swim—the list could go on forever. At times, Henrietta would tell me she felt slightly guilty that Emily enjoyed staying with her so much. It was no secret that Emily preferred to be with Grandma over anyone. Grandma was a blessing and we were thankful to have her.
在她们相处的七年里，奶奶教会了埃米莉走路、阅读、写字、骑自行车、烹饪、爬树和游泳等一系列技能——她所教的东西多得不胜枚举。有时，亨利埃塔会对我说，埃米莉如此喜欢和她待在一起，让她感到有些内疚。埃米莉最喜欢与之相处的人就是奶奶，这一点并不是什么秘密。奶奶对于我们是一种恩惠，我们很感激有她在身边。
Then, the unthinkable happened. Grandma suddenly became ill and had to be hospitalized. Initially, the two of them were able to communicate by phone, but as Henrietta became weaker, the conversations came to an end.
随后，不可想象的事情发生了。奶奶突然生病了，而且必须得住院接受治疗。一开始，她和埃米莉还可以通过电话交流，但随着亨利埃塔变得越来越虚弱，她们的交谈也终止了。
Emily was lost. She had rarely gone a day without either seeing or talking to Grandma. A few weeks after becoming ill, we got the call in the middle of the night that Grandma had passed away.
埃米莉怅然若失。在这之前，她几乎没有一天是看不到奶奶，或者是不和奶奶说说话的。奶奶病了几个星期后的一天深夜里，我们接到了电话通知：奶奶去世了。
My husband and I lay awake trying to imagine 3)breaking this news to our daughter. Grandma had been her world for seven years.
我和丈夫躺在床上，无法入睡，设想着该如何委婉地把这个坏消息告诉我们的女儿。毕竟，七年间，奶奶就是她的整个世界。
As I lay there in those early morning hours, I thought back to the last conversation I’d had with Henrietta. I had called the hospital to 4)check on her and was told by her daughter that they’d been trying to reach me. Henrietta had insisted on talking to me and had been becoming increasingly 5)agitated at not being able to speak to me. Her daughter was hoping that after talking to me, Henrietta would finally be able to rest.
凌晨时分，我躺在那儿，我想起了我和亨利埃塔之间的最后一次通话。我曾打电话到医院询问她的情况，她女儿告诉我说他们一直在试图联系我。亨利埃塔坚持一定要和我通话，而且因为没能和我通上话，她正变得愈加激动和不安。她女儿希望，亨利埃塔和我交谈后最终能够安心。
As Henrietta held the phone, I could hear her 6)labored breathing.
当亨利埃塔接过电话，我听到她那吃力的呼吸声。
“Is my baby ok?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“Yes,” I replied.
“I need to know that she’ll be okay.”
“She will,” I said, my own voice now choked with emotion.
“Tell her I love her.”
“I will,” I promised.
“我的小宝贝还好吗？”她问道，她的声音微弱得如同耳语一般。
“很好，”我回答。
“我就是想知道她会很好。”
“她会的，”我说，此时我自己因为激动而声音哽咽了。
“转告她我爱她。”
“我会的。”我允诺道。
Within an hour, Henrietta slipped into a 7)coma. Now, as 8)word of her death came, I understood the reason for her agitation. She had needed to hear that her beloved Emily was going to be okay without her. She needed Emily to know how much she loved her. Having done that, she now could rest.
不到一小时，亨利埃塔陷入了昏迷。如今，当她去世的消息传来，我明白了她激动不安的原因。她需要听到，她心爱的埃米莉没了她的陪伴依然会过得很好。她想让埃米莉知道，她有多么爱她。做完了这些事，现在她可以安息了。
As daylight finally came, I waited until I heard Emily 9)stir before going into her room. I kissed her and brushed her hair, still 10)tasseled from sleep, from her face. As I strained to keep my voice from breaking, I told her that Grandma had gone to heaven. I had expected her to cry, maybe even 11)hysterically, but she didn’t.
天终于亮了。我等待着，直到听见埃米莉在她房间里走动，我才走进去。我亲吻了她，轻轻从她脸上拨开她在睡梦中弄乱的头发。我努力不让自己的声音哽咽，告诉她，奶奶已经去了天堂。我原以为她会哭泣，甚至可能会竭斯底里地大哭不已，然而她没有。
Instead, without saying a word, she rolled away from me and faced the wall. I sat with her awhile, hoping she would even-tually cry, be angry, anything. Instead, she just stared at the wall. When she did finally emerge from her room, she walked around as if she were 12)in a daze.
相反，她没有说一句话，而是晃晃悠悠地从我身边走开，面对着墙壁。我陪着她坐了一会儿，希望她最终能哭出来，或者生气，或者以其他任何方式宣泄出来。然而，她只是呆呆地盯着那堵墙。当她最终从她的房间里走出来时，她一路摇摇晃晃，神情似乎有点恍惚。
We 13)went through the motions in the days that followed striving to adjust to a daily routine that no longer involved Grandma. Each time someone would bring up something about Grandma, Emily would quickly change the subject. It was as if just to hear the word “Grandma” was more than she could stand.
随后的日子里，我们装作没事一样，努力去适应没有奶奶的日常生活。每当有人提到有关奶奶的什么事，埃米莉都会迅速岔开话题，似乎只要听到“奶奶”这个词，她就已经承受不了了。
Now several months after her death, when my cake refused to release itself from the pan, Emily mentioned Grandma.
现在，在奶奶去世几个月之后，当我的薄饼粘在锅底时，埃米莉提起了奶奶。
“That’s not the way Grandma did it,” she repeated. I turned to her and caught sight of a tear before she quickly brushed it away.
“奶奶可不是那样弄它的。”她重复道。我转头看她，在她快速拭去泪水之前，我看到她眼里有一滴泪。
“I know sweetheart,” I sighed. “I can’t do it like Grandma, but I bet you can. Why don’t you show me how Grandma did it?” I suggested.
“我知道，亲爱的，”我叹息着说，“我不会像奶奶那样弄，但我相信你会。为什么不给我示范一下奶奶是怎么弄的呢？”我提议道。
Emily took the cake pan and gently worked a knife around the edges, just as Grandma had no doubt taught her. The cake easily slid out of the pan.
埃米莉拿起盛薄饼的平底锅，然后用餐刀轻轻地挑起薄饼的边缘部分——无疑就像奶奶当初教她的那样。那块薄饼很轻易地从锅里滑落出来。
I looked on with tears in my eyes as I realized Emily’s healing had finally begun.
我含泪看着这一切——我意识到埃米莉心里的创伤终于开始痊愈了。
