第14章 Friendship for Real天涯若比邻
早安心语
prosperity makes friends，adversity tries them
富贵交友易，患难见真情。
prolonged absenbsp;without faltering
i grew up in jamaibsp;pin，an urban unity located oskirts of boston，massachusetts
in the 1940s it was a wholesome，quaint little unityit was my home and i loved it there；babsp;then i thought i would never leave
my best friend rose and i used to collectively dream about raising a family of our own somedaywe had it all pnned out to live door to one another
our dream remained alive through grade school，high school，and even beyondrose was my maid of honor when i got married in 1953 to the love of my life，dickeven then she joked that she was just one perfebsp;guy short of being married，thus bringing us closer to our dreammeanwhile，dibsp;aspired to be an offibsp;in the marines and i fully supported his ambitionsi realized that he might be stationed far away from jamaibsp;pin，but i told him i would relocate and adjustthe idea of experieng new pbsp;together seemed somewhat romantibsp;to me
so，in 1955 dibsp;was stationed in aska and we relocatedrose was sad to see me leave，but wished me the best of luckrose and i remained in toubsp;for a few years via periodibsp;phone call but after a while we lost trabsp;of one anotherbabsp;in the 1950s it was a lot more difficult to stay in toubsp;with someone over a long distance，especially if you were relog every few yearsthere were no email addresses or transferable phone number and directory lookup servibsp;were mediobsp;at best
i thought of her several times over the yearsonbsp;in the mid 1960s when i was visiting the greater boston area i tried to determine her where about but my searbsp;turned up empty-handedjamaibsp;pin had ged drastically in the 10 years i was gonea pretty obvious shift in ine demographibsp;was affeg my old neighborhoodmy family had moved out of the area，as did many of the people i used to knowrose was o be found
52 years passed and we never spoke
i&039;ve sinbsp;raised a family of five，all of whom now have families of their own，and dibsp;passed away a few years ago
basically，a lifetime has passednow here i am at the doorstep to my 80th birthday and i receive a random phone call on an idle wednesday afternoon“hello？”i said“hi natalie，it&039;s rose，”the voibsp;oher end replied“it&039;s been so longi don&039;t know if you remember me，but we used to be best friends in jamaibsp;pin when we were kids”she said
we haven&039;t seen eabsp;other yet，but we have spent tless hours on the phog up on 52 years of our livesthe iing thing is that even after 52 years of separation our personalities and is are still extremely simirwe both share a passion for several hobbies that ;picked up indepely several years after we lost toubsp;with one a almost feels like ig up right where we left off，whibsp;is really strange sidering the circumstances
her husband passed away a few years ago as well，but she mailed me several photographs of her family that were takehe yearsit&039;s so crazy，just looking at the photos and listening to her describe her family reminds me of my own；a reasonably rge，healthy familypart of me feels like we led fairly simir lives
i don&039;t think the numerous simirities between our two lives are a bsp;eitheri think it shows that we didn&039;t just call eabsp;other best frieruly were best friend and even now we bsp;be best friends againreal friends have two things in on：a patible personality and a strong-willed characterthe patible personality is what initiates the e between two people and a strong-willed character at both ends is what maintains the eif those two ingredients are present in a friendship，the friendship is for real，and bsp;thus sustaiests of time and prolonged absenbsp;without faltering
海内存知己，天涯若比邻。千山万水也阻隔不了真朋友间的情感联系。也许最珍贵的友情并不只存在于咫尺，真友谊经得住任何时间、距离、身份的考验。
我在牙买加平原长大，那是马萨诸塞州波士顿市郊的一个城镇。在20世纪40年代，那是个生气勃勃而又老式别致的小社区。那是我的家乡，我热爱的地方。那时，我以为自己永远不会离开那。我最好的朋友罗斯和我常常一起梦想着有一天各自拥有自己的家庭。我们什么都计划好了，打算以后挨着住，做邻居。
我们的这一梦想历经了小学、中学，甚至之后的岁月，从未变更。1953年当我嫁给我一生的挚爱——迪克时，罗斯是我的伴娘。那时，她甚至开玩笑说，她就差结婚了，要不就完美了——这样就可以离我们的梦想更近了。然而，迪克决心成为一名海军陆战队军官，而我则全力支持他的雄心壮志。我意识到，他可能会在牙买加平原以外很远的地方驻扎，不过我告诉他我可以重新安家并适应下来。和他一起体验新天地的生活，这想法对我来说有些浪漫。
于是，1955年迪克被安排驻扎在阿拉斯加时，我们搬家了。罗斯对我的离开感到很难过，但仍祝我好运。
接下来的几年里，我们通过定期打电话来保持联络，但不久后我们便失去了彼此的音讯。20世纪50年代那会儿，要想和远方的人保持联络并不太容易，特别是当你每隔几年就要搬家时。那时还没有电子邮箱者搬家不换号的服务，姓名地址查询服务也不甚完善。
这些年来，我有好几次想起了她。20世纪60年代中期，有一次在我去大波士顿区时，我尝试追寻她的下落，但却搜寻未果。在我离开后的10年里，牙买加平原发生了巨变。外来人口的大量迁入影响了我的旧社区。
我家早已搬离了那个地区，从前认识的邻居中有很多也搬走了。罗斯则杳无音讯，无迹可寻。
52年过去了，我们再未说过话。后来，我有了一个五口之家，现在孩子们也全都有了自己的家庭，而迪克也在几年前去世了。
基本上，我的一生就这么过去了。如今，在我即将迈入八十大寿之际，一个空闲的周三下午我接到了一个陌生来电。“喂？”我打招呼道。“嗨，纳塔利，我是罗斯。”电话那头的声音回应道。“已经过了这么久了，我不知道你还记不记得我，过去还是小孩子的时候，在牙买加平原，我们是最好的朋友。”她说道。
我们到现在也还没再见过面，但我们花了很长的时间在电话里互诉了这52年里我们各自的生活。有意思的是，即使是分别了52年，我们的个性和兴趣仍然极其相似。我们都钟情于某些爱好，而那是在我们失去联络几年后各自养成的。这感觉简直就像我们才刚刚分别就又重聚了一样，考虑到现实情况，这确实让人有些惊叹。
她的丈夫也在几年前去世了，但她寄了几张那些年里拍的家庭合影给我。令人兴奋不已的是，仅仅是看着这些照片，听她描述着她的家庭就让我想起了我自己的家庭；一个相当健康的大家庭。内心深处，我感到我们有着极其相似的人生。
我们两个人的生命中有如此多的相似之处，我并不认为这仅仅是巧合。我认为这表示，我们视彼此为最好的朋友不只是嘴上说的，而是真真切切地曾经是彼此最好的朋友，即使到了现在，我们还是可以成为最好的朋友。真正的朋友有两个共同点：相容的个性和坚强的品格。相容的个性是最初连接两人的纽带，而这一纽带的维系则有赖于双方所拥有的坚强品格。如果一段友谊里有着这两者的存在，那么这段友谊就是真的，这样一来，它就能经受住时间和长久分离的考验而毫不“褪色”。
轻英语
英文座右铭
1no man is happy but by parison
人的幸福都是比较而言的。
2there is no joy without alloy
没有十全十美的快乐。
3progress is the activity of today and the assuranbsp;of tomorrow
进步是今天的活动，明天的保证。
4the world is but a little pce，after all
天涯原咫尺，何处不相逢。
5human pride is human weakness
人类的骄傲即是人类的弱点。
6man proposes，god disposes
谋事在人，成事在天。
7every cloud has a silver lining
乌云背后有阳光。
8pride hurts，modesty bes
满招损，谦受益。