By Barack Obama

母親節(jié)（Mothers Day），是一個感恩母親的節(jié)日。母親節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)起源于古希臘，在一月八日這一天，古希臘人會向希臘眾神之母“瑞亞”致敬。而現(xiàn)代的母親節(jié)起源于美國，慶祝于每年五月的第二個星期日。人們通常會在這一天為母親獻(xiàn)上康乃馨，康乃馨也因此成為了母親節(jié)的象征。當(dāng)然，禮物形式多樣，重要的是心意，但別忘了最簡單的祝福：母親節(jié)快樂！以下是美國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬對其生命中的三位母親的一些感想，感情細(xì)膩，簡潔干練，既不拖泥帶水又能恰到好處地表達(dá)深深的感謝之意。

I think its important to recognize that moms come in a lot of different shapes and sizes.

Well， you know， my mother was the single most important influence in my life. I saw her struggles as a single mom. She taught me the values of hard work and responsibility， but also compassion and empathy， being able to look at the world through somebody elses eyes and stand in their shoes. She was somebody who recognized that those of us who have some talents or have been given opportunities that weve gotta give something back， and Ill always be 1）indebted to her for that.

My grandmother. She was very different than my mother， much more sort of 2）stoic and very much displayed her Kansas roots， but was a constant source of strength for all of us. Heres a woman， who grew up in the depression， never had the opportunity to go to college， worked her way up as a secretary to become a vice-president of a bank. Frankly， if there hadnt been a 3）glass ceiling， she probably could have taken over the bank.

Michelles the best mom I know， and she cares deeply about family.

This is my wife， Michelle.

Michelle： Hey. Im his date.

She combines the ability to make the kids feel completely loved， with a real sense of being able to provide the kids limits. Shes very good at it. The proof is in those girls， who are magical. And Id like to say that Ive had something to do with it， but， I think， in fairness， Ive gotta give her most of the credit.

Ive decided not to let you go.

Michelle： OK.

我想，認(rèn)識到媽媽們各有不同是很重要的。

嗯，你知道，在我一生中，我的媽媽對我的影響最為重要。作為單身媽媽，她為此付出了很多努力。她讓我意識到努力工作和責(zé)任的價值，以及要心懷同情和理解之心，這樣才能夠通過別人的眼睛，站在他們的角度看世界。她明白，如果我們的才能被發(fā)現(xiàn)并得到發(fā)展的機(jī)會，那我們應(yīng)該回饋社會。我會為此而永遠(yuǎn)感激她。

我的祖母。她和我的媽媽非常的不同，更像是恬淡寡欲的人，有著堪薩斯州人固有的特點，但卻是我們源源不斷的力量之源。她是這樣一個女人——成長于大蕭條時期，從來沒有機(jī)會上大學(xué)。她一開始只是一名秘書，后來通過努力一路攀升成為了一家銀行的副總裁。坦率地說，如果沒有對女性的隱形歧視，她可能已經(jīng)接管了銀行。

米歇爾是我認(rèn)識的最棒的媽媽，她非常地關(guān)心在意家庭。

這是我的妻子，米歇爾。

米歇爾：嗨。我是他的約會對象。

她有能力做到既讓孩子們感受到無條件的愛，也能夠讓孩子們明白什么是不能做的。她很擅長這一點。證據(jù)就是我們奇妙的女兒們。我想說的是，這和我也有點兒關(guān)系，但是，我想，公平地說，大部分功勞是她的。

我決定讓你永遠(yuǎn)呆在我身邊。

米歇爾：好的。

That model of strong， responsible women， but also incredibly loving women， has been a great gift for my girls， cause they can see， every day， the contributions that women are making in their own family， and I think that gives them an enormous amount of confidence as they go forward.

The issues that mothers face； those are issues that matter to all of us， so families count on women having equal opportunity. Thats the reason why that something like the 4）Affordable Care Act was so important， because a lot of times women are paying more for their health care. Thats why I signed the 5）Lilly Ledbetter Act， to make sure that people got an equal days pay for an equal days work， because， when we do that， thats not just good for women. Thats good for our country and thats good for families everywhere.

Happy Mothers Day.

她是那種堅強(qiáng)、負(fù)責(zé)，而且充滿愛心的女性模范，她是我們女兒最好的禮物。因為她們可以看到，在每一天里，這個媽媽都在為家庭付出，而且我覺得這一點都會讓她們在前進(jìn)的路途中充滿信心。

媽媽們面對的那些問題是會影響到我們所有人的，因此家庭都會依賴享有平等機(jī)會的女性。那就是為什么像《平價醫(yī)療法案》是那么的重要，因為很多時候，女人要為醫(yī)療保健支付更多。這就是為什么我簽署了《莉莉·萊德貝特法案》，以確保人們同工同酬。因為，我們這樣做，不僅僅讓女性受益，也會讓國家受益，也讓所有的家庭受益。

母親節(jié)快樂！翻譯：Chris