Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don’t act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you” is too luxurious for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more out of the question. Finally my father has a bad temper. When he’s very tired from the hard work, it is easy for him to lose his temper.

有時候，我真的懷疑父母之間是否有真愛。他們天天忙于賺錢，為我和弟弟支付學費。他們從未像我在書中讀到，或在電視中看到的那樣互訴衷腸。他們認為“我愛你”太奢侈，很難說出口。更不用說在情人節送花這樣的事了。我父親的脾氣非常壞。經過一天的勞累之后，他經常會發脾氣。

One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat down beside her and looked at her.

一天，母親正在縫被子，我靜靜地坐在她旁邊看著她。

“Mom, I have a question to ask you,” I said after a while.

過了一會，我說：“媽媽，我想問你一個問題。”

“What?” she replied, still doing her work.

“什么問題？”她一邊繼續縫著，一邊回答道。

“Is there love between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice.

我低聲地問道：“你和爸爸之間有沒有愛情啊？”

My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. She didn’t answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.

母親突然停下了手中的活，滿眼詫異地抬起頭。她沒有立即作答。然后低下頭，繼續縫被子。

I was very worried because I thought I had hurt her. I was in a great embarrassment and I didn’t know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:

我擔心傷害了她。我非常尷尬，不知道該怎么辦。不過，后來我聽見母親說：

“Susan,” she said thoughtfully, “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there. Love is inside.”

“蘇珊，看看這些線。有時候，你能看得見，但是大多數都隱藏在被子里。這些線使被子堅固耐用。如果生活就像一床被子，那么愛就是其中的線。你不可能隨時隨地看到它，但是它卻實實在在地存在著。愛是內在的。”

I listened carefully but I couldn’t understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness.