I’ve never given a crap about cars. Just never been one of those guys， you know？ Pops spent half his life away from his wives and tearing through engines， elbow deep in grease and antifreeze. He went through wives the way most people go through wrenches and it always left a bad taste in my mouth. I never wanted to end up like him.

我对汽车压根提不起兴趣。从来就不是那一类人，懂吧？我老爸半辈子的时间都抛开老婆，埋头在发动机里拆拆装装，手肘全浸在油污和防冻液里。他换老婆就像别人换扳手一样轻巧，这总让我觉得不是味儿。我可从没想活成他的那副模样。

Me， I only ever had the one wife. Marla was her name and she was a ray of sunshine if there ever was one. Light on her feet and sharp with her tongue1， I’ve never met a single other person like her. We were together forty-seven years before she passed and those were the best days of my life. We had two kids together， Jess and Roxy. They were blessed with her ears and her passion.

而我，我这一生只娶过一个老婆。她名叫玛拉，如果说世上真有像阳光一样的人，那就是她了。她步态轻盈，口齿伶俐，我从没遇见过像她这样的人。我们一起度过了四十七年，直到她离世，那些年是我生命里最好的日子。我们有两个孩子，杰丝和罗克西。她们有幸遗传了母亲的耳朵和她的激情。

I’ve still managed to hold on to our house， even though I’m up to my prostate2 in debt. Jess got married and moved to Minnesota with the grandkids， but Roxy only lives a town away. It’s been three years since Marla passed but every morning I put on my slippers and shuffle3 out to the coffeemaker， filling the house with that old aroma like it might bring her floating back through the door.

我仍设法保住了我们的房子，尽管早已债台高筑。杰丝结婚了，带着孩子们搬去了明尼苏达州，不过罗克西就住在隔壁镇上。玛拉去世已三年了，可每天早晨我还是会穿上拖鞋，拖着脚步走到咖啡机前，让那熟悉的香气弥漫全屋，仿佛这样她就会飘然穿门而入。

I’ve done my damndest to keep everything the way she left it until now. Her sock drawer’s always a quarter of the way open， the soft pink fabric peeking out just over the edge. The picture of our old dog Emma is still hanging crooked， where she always bumped it with her hip. The headband she used to hold back her hair while she washed her face still smells like the rosemary oil she used to keep her skin so soft.

我已经拼尽全力，把一切维持在她离开时的样子，直到如今。