Unit1NeverSayGoodbyeWhenIwastenIwassuddenlyconfrontedwiththeanguishofmovingfromtheonlyhomeIhadeverknown.Mywholelife,briefasitwas,hadbeenspentinthatbigoldhouse,gracefullytouchedwiththelaughterandtearsoffourgenerations.Whenthefinaldaycame,Irantothehavenofthesmallbackporchandsatalone,shuddering,astearswelledupfrommyheart.SuddenlyIfeltahandrestonmyshoulder.Ilookeduptoseemygrandfather."Itisn'teasy,isit,Billy"hesaidsoftly,sittingdownonthestepsbesideme."Grandpa,"Irepliedthroughmytears,"howcanIeversaygoodbyetoyouandallmyfriends"Foramomenthejuststaredoffintotheappletrees."Goodbyeissuchasadword,"hesaid."Itseemstoofinal,toocold,forfriendstouse.Weseemtohavesomanywaysofsayinggoodbyeandtheyallhaveonethingincommon:sadness".Icontinuedtolookintohisface.Hegentlytookmyhandinhis."Comewithme,myfriend,"hewhispered.Wewalked,handinhand,tohisfavoriteplaceinthefrontyard,whereahugeredrosebushsatconspicuouslyalone."Whatdoyouseehere,Billy"Heasked.Ilookedattheflower,notknowingwhattosay,andthenanswered,"Iseesomethingsoftandbeautiful,Grandpa."Kneeling,hepulledmeclose."Itisn'tjusttherosesthatarebeautiful,Billy.It'sthatspecialplaceinyourheartthatmakesthemso."Hiseyesmetmineagain."Billy,Iplantedtheserosesalong,longtimeago—beforeyourmotherwasevenadream.Iputthemintothesoilthedaymyfirstsonwasborn.Itwasmywayofsayingthank-youtoGod.Thatboy'snamewasBilly,justlikeyours.Iusedtowatchhimpickrosesforhismother."Isawmygrandfather'stears.Ihadneverseenhimcrybefore.Hisvoicebecamehoarse."Onedayaterriblewarcame,andmyson,likesomanysons,wentawaytofightagreatevil.HeandIwalkedtothetrainstationtogether...Threemonthslateratelegramcame.MysonhaddiedinsometinyvillageinItaly.AllIcouldthinkofwasthatthelastthingIsaidtohiminthislifewasgoodbye."Grandpaslowlystoodup."Don'teversaygoodbye,Billy.Don'tevergiveintothesadnessandthelonelinessofthatword.Iwantyoutorememberinsteadthejoyandthehappinessofthosetimeswhenyoufirstsaidhellotoafriend.Takethatspecialhelloandlockitawaywithinyou—inthatplaceinyourheartwheresummerisanalwaystime.Whenyouandyourfriendsmustpart,Iwantyoutoreachdeepwithinyouandbringbackthatfirsthello."Ayearandhalflater,mygrandfatherbecamegravelyill.Whenhereturnedfromseveralweeksinthehospital,hewantedhisbednexttothewindow,wherehecouldseehisbelovedrosebush.ThenthefamilywassummonedandIreturnedtotheoldhouse.Itwasdecidedthattheoldestgrandchildrenwouldbeallowedtosaytheirgoodbyes.Whenitcametomyturn,Inotedhowtiredhelooked.Hiseyeswereclosedandhisbreathingwasslowandhard.Itookhishandasgentlyashehadoncetakenmine."Hello,Grandpa,"Iwhispered.Hiseyesslowlyopened,"Hello,myfriend,"hesaid,withabriefsmile.HiseyesclosedagainandImovedon.Iwasstandingbyhisrosebushwhenanunclecametotellmethatmygrandfatherhaddied.RememberingGrandpa'swords,Ireacheddeepwithinmeforthosespecialfeelingsthathadmadeupourfriendship.Suddenly,andtruly,Iknewwhathehadmeantaboutneversayinggoodbye—aboutrefusingtogiveintothesadness.永遠不要說“再見”十歲時，我突然面臨著搬家的痛苦，要搬離我自小認識的、唯一的家。到那個時候為止，我簡短的人生都是在那個古老的大房子里度過的。在那里，我們四世同堂，有過歡聲笑語，也有過悲傷的印記。那天終于到來的時侯，我跑到屋子后面的小門廊下——這里是我的避難所——獨自一人坐在那里顫抖著，淚水從內(nèi)心深處涌出。突然間，我感到有一只手放到我的肩上。我抬起頭，看見了祖父?！安皇悄敲慈菀装?，是不是，比利”他柔聲說道，坐在了我旁邊的臺階上?！盃敔?，”我流著淚答道，“可是，我怎么能夠跟你，還有我所有的朋友說再見啊”他一直注視著遠處的蘋果樹，“再見是多么令人悲傷的字眼，”他說，“對朋友們用這個詞似乎太絕對、太冰冷了。好像我們有很多不同的道別方式，但他們有一個共同點，那就是悲傷?！蔽依^續(xù)看著他的臉，似乎想要從他的臉上讀出些什么。他輕輕地把我的手放到他的手心里。“我的朋友，跟我來?！彼p聲說。我們手牽手走進前院里他最喜歡的地方，在那兒獨自種著的一大叢紅色的玫瑰十分顯眼?！霸谶@兒你看到了什么，比利”他問道。我看著那些花兒，不知道該說些什么。然后答道，“我看見了柔和美麗的東西，爺爺?！彼蛄讼聛?，把我拉得更近，說道，“不僅僅是因為這些玫瑰本身的美麗，比利，是你內(nèi)心的某個特別的地方，使得他們?nèi)绱嗣利??！彼哪抗庠俅谓佑|到我的?！氨壤?，我很久很久以前就種下了這些玫瑰——那個時候甚至還沒有你媽媽呢。在我的第一個兒子出生的那天，我把它們種到了土里。這是我在用自己的方式對上帝表達我的感激。那個男孩的名字叫做比利，和你一樣。過去我常常看著他給他媽媽摘玫瑰花?！蔽铱匆娏俗娓傅难蹨I。以前我從未見過他流淚。他的聲音開始變得有些沙啞。“有一天，可怕的戰(zhàn)爭爆發(fā)了。我的兒子，象許多其他人的兒子們一樣，去與邪惡作戰(zhàn)。他和我一起走到火車站。。。。。。三個月后，來了一封電報說，我的兒子戰(zhàn)死在意大利的一個小村莊里。我所能想起的只有在他的生命中我跟他講的最后一句話——再見。”祖父緩緩的站起來說，“永遠不要說再見，比利。永遠不要屈服于那個詞所帶來的悲傷和孤獨。相反，我要你記住那些你第一次跟朋友們說“你好”的時侯心里的那種歡樂。記住那個特別的問候，把他們保存在心里，這樣你的內(nèi)心就會永遠充滿夏天般的快樂和幸福。當你不得不和朋友們分離時，我想讓你在內(nèi)心深處重新找回第一次的問候?！币荒臧胍院?，祖父病得很嚴重。幾個星期以后，他從醫(yī)院回來，想把床挪到窗邊，因為在那兒他可以看見他心愛的玫瑰叢。然后，整個家族被召集到一起，我回到了那個老房子。大人們決定，年紀大一些的孫子們可以向他道別。輪到我時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)他