第3章 Dancing with Mom

Anonymous

When I married my wife Martha,it was the most beautiful day of my life.

We were young and healthy,tanned and handsome.Every picture taken by that day showed us smiling,hugging and kissing.We were the perfect hosts,never cranky or tired.We were as happy and carefree as the porcelain couple on our towering wedding cake.

Halfway through the reception,in between the pictures and the cake and the garter and the bouquet,my mother tapped me gently on the shoulder.I hugged her in a flurry of other well-wishers and barely heard her whisper,"Will you dance with me,sweetheart?"

"Sure,Mom."I said,smiling and with the best of intentions,even as some out of town guests pulled me off in their direction.An hour later my mother tried again.And again I readily agreed,smiling and reaching for her with an outstretched hand but letting some old college buddiesplace a fresh beer there instead,just before dragging me off for some last-minute wedding night advice!

Finally,my mother gave up.

There were kisses and hugs and rice and tin cans and then my wife and I were off on our honeymoon.A nagging concern grew in the back of my mind as we wined and dined our way down to Miami for a week-long cruise and then back again when it was over.

When we finally returned to our new home,a phone message told us our pictures were waiting at the photographer's.We unpacked slowly and then moseyed on down to pick them up.Hours later,after we had examined every one with fond memories,I held one out to reflect upon in private.

It was a picture of two happy guests,sweaty and rowdy in their dancing.But it wasn't the grinning couple I was focusing on.There,in the background was my mother.

I had spotted her blue dress right away and her simple pearls.The brand new hairdo I knew she'd gotten special for that day,even though she was on a fixed income.I saw her scuffed shoes and a run in her stocking and her tired hands clutching at a well-used handkerchief.

In the picture,my mother was crying.And I didn't think they were tears of joy.The nagging concern that had niggled at me the entire honeymoon finally solidified-I had never danced with my mother.

I kissed my wife on the cheek and drove to my mother's tiny apartment a few miles away.I knocked on the door and saw that her new perm was still fresh and tight,but her tidy blue dress had been replaced with her usual faded house dress.

A feeble smile greeted me,weak arms wrapped around me and,naturally,mother wanted to know all about our honeymoon.Instead,all I could do was apologize.

"I'm sorry,I never danced with you,Mom,"I said honestly,sitting next to her on the threadbare couch,"it was a very special day and that was the only thing missing form making it perfect."

Mother looked me in the eye and said something that I'll never forget:"Nonsense,dear.You've danced enough with this old broad in her lifetime.Remember all those Saturday nights you spent here when you were a little boy?I'd put the Lawrence Welk Show on and you'd danced on top of my fuzzy slippers and langhed the whole time.Why,I don't know any other mother who has memories like that.I'm a lucky woman."

"And while you were being the perfect host and making all of your guests feel so special,I sat back and watched you and felt nothing but pride.That's what a wedding is,honey.Something old and something new;something borrowed and something blue."

"Well,this OLD woman,who was wearing BLUE,watched you dance with your beautiful NEW bride,and I knew I had to give you up,because I had you so many years to myself,but I could only BORROW you until you found the woman of your dream-and now you have each other and I can rest easy in the knowledge that you're happy."

Both of our tears covered her couch that day.

That was the day mother taught me what it meant to be a son,as well as a husband.

And after my lesson,I asked mother for that wedding dancing.

Unlike me,she didn't refuse……

与妈妈共舞

佚名

与妻子马莎举行婚礼的那天，是我一生中最美好的一天。

那时的我们，年轻而有活力，皮肤被晒成深褐色，看上去很精神。那天，摄影师拍下的都是我们微笑、拥抱和亲吻的镜头。我们是最幸福的主人，一点儿也不怪异，也毫无倦怠的神情。我们就像结婚蛋糕上的那对小瓷人一样幸福而无忧无虑。

婚礼进行时，大家拍照片，切蛋糕，扔袜带，掷花束，玩得不亦乐乎。这时，妈妈轻轻地拍拍我的肩头，在众人一阵忙乱的祝福声中，我把她揽入怀中，她在我耳边低声说道：“亲爱的，和我跳支舞，好吗？”

“当然可以了，妈妈。”我真诚地微笑着回答她，不巧，这时一些外地客人又把我拉向他们那儿。一小时后，妈妈又向我发出了邀请。我同样微笑着答应了，并伸手做出邀舞的姿势。这时过来一些大学同学，把一杯鲜啤酒放到我手中，并把我拽走，要在新婚之夜前给我些建议。

最终，妈妈不得不放弃。

在频繁的拥抱、亲吻和推杯换盏的欢愉之后，我与妻子开始了蜜月之旅。我们乘船在迈阿密游览了一周，这期间一种莫名的不安一直烦扰着我。

最终我们回到了新家，摄影师在电话留言里告诉我们，婚礼照片已经都冲洗好了。我们顾不上收拾行李便迈着疲倦的步伐去取照片。几个小时后，我们仔细看了所有的照片，婚礼的热闹场面不时地浮现在眼前，我拿着其中一张照片，不禁陷入了沉思。

照片上的两位客人欢快地跳着舞，他们汗涔涔的，一副笑逐颜开的样子。但我关注的不是这对开怀而笑的客人，而是站在他们后面的妈妈。

我注意到她身着蓝色晚装，佩戴着简单的珍珠饰物。我知道，她的新发型是专门为那天设计的，尽管她收入有限。我看到了她那双有些破损的鞋子和抽了丝的袜子，还有那双倦怠的手和手里紧握着的一块旧手帕。

照片上妈妈在流泪。我知道那并非喜悦的泪水。那也是我蜜月不安的根源所在——我一直没能和妈妈跳舞。

我吻了一下妻子的脸颊，开车到了几英里外妈妈的小寓所。我敲了门，看到了妈妈，她的新发型依然漂亮，但是褪了色的便装却取代了那身体面的蓝色礼服。

妈妈无力地微笑着迎接我，用虚弱的双臂拥抱着我。我知道她一定很想知道我和妻子度蜜月的事。而我所能做的只是表达无尽的歉意。

“对不起，我没能和您跳舞，妈妈，”我非常诚恳地向妈妈道歉，挨着她坐在旧沙发上，“那是一个极特殊的日子，只因没能陪您跳舞而不那么完美。”

妈妈望着我的眼睛，她的话让我难以忘却：“胡说，亲爱的。在我的一生中，你已经和我这个老太婆跳了很多舞了。还记得你小时候在这儿度过的那些周六的夜晚吗？我放劳伦斯·威尔克的音乐，你便踏着我的毛绒拖鞋跳个不停，还大笑不止。不知其他的妈妈们是否有这样美好的回忆。我想我是幸运的。”

“当你身为完美的主人，给所有的客人带来快乐时，我在旁边看着，心里有的只是骄傲。婚礼就是这样，有新有旧，有得有失。”

“噢，你想，我这样一位老太太，穿着蓝色的礼服，看着你与漂亮的新娘共舞，我知道我该放手了，因为我已经拥有多年了，你只不过是我借来的，一旦你找到了理想的伴侣，我就得拱手让出——现在你们彼此拥有对方，能够互相照顾，我可以安度晚年，不必再为你牵肠挂肚了。”

那天我和妈妈都流了许多幸福的泪水。

正是那天，妈妈让我体会到了既为儿子又为人夫的意义。

接受了那个教训后，我邀请妈妈跳了一支新婚舞曲。

她没像我一样拒绝……

感悟在成年之后，别忘了邀请妈妈跳支舞，那是她人生中最难得的礼物。