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.

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

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

"What?" she replied, still doing her work.

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

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.

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:

"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."

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.

After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious couple. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.

The doctor had said my father would recover in two months. But after two months he still couldn't walk by himself. All of us were worried about him.

"Dad, how are you feeling now?" I asked him one day.

"Susan, don't worry about me." he said gently. "To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life." Reading his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.

Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses.But from this experience, I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm.

有時我懷疑，父母之間是否存在著真愛。他們每天都疲于奔命，為我和弟弟賺學(xué)費(fèi)，我從沒見他們像我在書中或電視中看到的那樣浪漫。在他們看來，將“我愛你”這句話說出都太奢侈，更別說在情人節(jié)互贈鮮花了。父親脾氣很糟，特別是經(jīng)過了一天辛苦工作的勞累之后，糟糕的脾氣更容易爆發(fā)。

有一天，媽媽正在縫被子，我安靜地坐在旁邊看著她。

“媽媽，我有個問題想問你?！边^了一會兒我說。

“什么問題啊?”她答道，而手里的活兒卻沒停下。

“你和爸爸之間有愛情嗎?”我壓低聲音問道。

母親停下手里的活兒，抬起頭詫異地看著我，并未馬上回答，然后又低下頭，繼續(xù)縫被子。

我擔(dān)心這個問題會傷她的心。我很尷尬，不知所措。但接下來卻聽見母親這樣說：

“蘇珊，”她若有所思地說，“你看這線。有時我們看得見它，但更多時侯它卻藏在被子中，我們看不見。這些線確實使被子結(jié)實耐用。如果將生活比做被子，那么愛就是絲線。你不可能時刻都看得到它，但是它卻真實地存在著。愛是內(nèi)在的東西。

我仔細(xì)聽著，但是直到第二年春天才真正明白她所說的話。當(dāng)時，父親病重，母親在醫(yī)院里照顧他，一個月后，父親出院回到家時，兩個人看起來都面色蒼白，就像他們都得過重病似的。

他們回家后，每到黎明和黃昏，母親總會攙扶著父親在鄉(xiāng)間小路上散步。父親從沒有那樣溫和過。他們看起來是那樣和諧。路旁有許多漂亮的鮮花、綠草和樹木，陽光透過葉子的縫隙溫柔地照射在上面，所有這一切勾勒出世間最美的畫面。

醫(yī)生說，兩個月后父親就能病愈。可兩個月后他還是不能獨(dú)立行走，我們都很擔(dān)心。

“你感覺如何，爸爸?”有一天我問他。

“蘇珊，不要擔(dān)心我?！备赣H慢慢地說，“不瞞你說，我就是喜歡和你媽媽一起散步的感覺。我喜歡這樣的生活?！睆乃难凵裰?，我讀出了他對母親那深深的愛戀。

曾經(jīng)以為愛情是與鮮花、禮物和香甜的熱吻這些美好的事物分不開的，經(jīng)歷了這些后，我明白了：愛情就如同我們生活中被子里的絲線一樣，是內(nèi)在的，它能使生活這條被子溫暖堅固。