TheBridge

Dogsarenotourwholelife,buttheymakeourliveswhole.

?RogerA.Caras

狗狗雖然不是我們生命的全部，但它們的存在讓我們的生命變得更加完整~

“Lilawillbeabridge^^Thetrainerlookeddirectlyatme.Hereyesweresmilingbutserious.

Ithoughtitwasanintriguingmetaphor(formerEnglishteacherhere),butlittledidIrealizehow

appropriateandtrueitwouldbeandhowusingthatbridgewouldleadmetoexperiencesand

opportunitiesIcouldneverhaveimagined.

intriguing:arousinggreatinterestorcuriosity非常有趣的；引人入勝的

metaphor:afigureofspeechinwhichanexpressionisusedtorefertosomethingthatitdoesnot

literallydenoteinordertosuggestasimilarity隱喻

Severalmonthsago,whenIfirststartedplanninganearlyretirement,itsoundedlikeanexciting

concept:stayingupaslateascaredto,sleepinginwheneveryoneelse'salarmswerebeeping,and

havingallthatextrafreetime.Yeah,allthatextrafreetimetofillwith...what,exactly?

beep:ashorthightoneproducedasasignalorwarning嘟嘟響

OneofthereasonsIoptedforanearlyretirementwassoIcouldspendextratimewithanimals,my

ownfourrescuesaswellasthoseatourlocalhumanesociety.ButIneededsomethingmore,

somethingtogetmeupeverymorning.

rescues:指作者的救援狗

humanesociety:agroupthataimstostophumanoranimalsufferingduetocrueltyorotherreasons,

inmanycountries,itisnowusedmostlyforsocietiesforthepreventionofcrueltytoanimals

(SPCAs)人道協(xié)會(huì)

Then,oneSundaymorning,asIsatinthechurchpewwaitingfortheservicetobegin,Iopenedour

churchbulletin,andtheword“dog”jumpedoutatme.OurchurchwaswelcomingLila,anLCC

(LutheranChurchCharities)K-9ComfortDog-thefirstinmyhomestate.Andhandlerswere

needed.Mypastorencouragedmetocallthechurchofficeandhavemynameaddedtothelist,

pew:longbenchwithbacks教堂的條凳式座位

bulletin:abriefreport(especiallyanofficialstatementissuedforimmediatepublicationor

broadcast)公告；布告

LCC(LutheranChurchCharities):路德教會(huì)慈善機(jī)構(gòu)

Handler:apersonwhotrainsandcontrolsanimals,especiallydogs馴獸員；(尤指)馴犬員

pastor:apersonauthorizedtoconductreligiousworship牧師

Iplacedthecallearlythenextmorning.Nosleepinginthatday!Thelistwasalreadyfull.They

alreadyhadenoughhandlersbutthankedmeforcalling.Mydogshadtrainedmewellenoughto

knowthatpersistenceusuallypaysoff-intheircase,withextraattentionorpossiblytreats.Inmy

case,afterpresentingmylistofreasonsforinclusion,nottomentionstayingonthelineindefinitely,

Iwasaddedtothebottomofthelist.

AftertravelingtotheChicagoareaforComfortDogtraining,Lila'scalendarquicklyfilledup

withregularlyscheduledvisitstoseniorresidences,hospitals,assisted-livingandmemory-care

homes,aswellaspresentationsatschools,libraries,andcommunityevents.Mostimportantly

therewerepriorityvisitsforunexpected,oftentragic,events:suddendeaths,crime-victimsupport,

naturalandmanmadedisasters.

calendar:alistorregisterofevents(appointmentsorsocialeventsetc.)日程表

seniorresidences:老年公寓

manmade:thestateofbeingtheproductofintentionalhumanmanufacture,ratherthanoccurring

naturallythroughprocessesnotinvolvingorrequiringhumanactivity.人造的；人為的

Thereweresomany,butonestoodoutforme.ALaborDaypartycelebratingalocalboy'sbirthday

endedtragicallywhenthetwelve-year-olddrownedinahotelpool.Theonlyotherpeopleinthe

poolareaatthetimehadbeenhiseight-year-oldsisterandanotherchild.

AndthefollowingTuesdaywasthefirstdayofschool,

standout:behighlynoticeable突出；顯眼；引人注目

Weclearedourscheduleandarrangedtomeetfirstwiththeboy'scousinsandclosestfriends.

Understandably,theywerequietandreserved,andsomewhatreluctanttoapproachus.Beforelong,

theyjoinedusonthefloorandbegantostrokeLila'sfurandaskquestionsabouther.Thestress

theywereunderseemedtolessenastheminuteswentby.

reserved:coolandformalinmanner緘默的；冷靜的

beforelong:inthenearfuture在不久后；在短時(shí)間里

stroke:touchlightlyandwithaffection,withbrushingmotions輕撫；撫摸

Throughouttheafternoon,wemetwithsmallgroupsofstudents.Oneyoungladytoldusthatwhen

shefirstcamein,shewas"madattheworld"overtheinexplicabletragedy.Butafterspendingsome

timedownonthefloorandtalkingthingsout,shetoldus,"Tmnotmadanymore.9,

inexplicable:incapableofbeingexplainedoraccountedfor無(wú)法說(shuō)明的；費(fèi)解的

Astheafternoonprogressedthedeanofstudentsbroughtthestudent'ssisterwhohadbeenatthe

sceneofthedrowning.Earlier,shehadspentmostofthedayinaprivateoffice,toosickwithgrief

tojointherest.OnceagainLilaworkedhermagic,bringingcomforttoherhurtingheart.Aswe

preparedtoleavethedeanandthecousinssharedhugswithus,andeverysingleonewalkedusto

ourcarforafinalgoodbye.

dean:amanwhoistheseniormemberofagroup院長(zhǎng)；系主任

Agentledog...warmingheartsinthemidstoftragedy.

AnothertimeIwatchedLilaperformamiracleinthebackcornerofamemory-careunitwherea

ladysatmotionlessinherwheelchair.Carolwasslumpedoverwithhereyesclosed.Herhusband

toldmethatshewasawarebutdidn'tcaretorespond.Healsosaidthatdogshadalwaysbeenan

importantpartofherlife,butformanymonthsnow,Carolhadretreatedinto"anotherworld.^^

midst:thelocationofsomethingsurroundedbyotherthings當(dāng)中；中間

memory-careunit:記憶護(hù)理之家

slumpover:萎靡

“Visit,“ItoldLila,andsherestedherchinonCarol'sknee.HerhusbandtookCarolsseemingly

lifelesshandinhisandslowlystrokedLila'sneck.Beforetoolong,herhandstartedtotremblea

little,andthenshebegantoblinkhereyes.WhenshelookeddownandsawLilastaringupather,

theireyesmet.LilaandCarolvisitedforquitesometimesilentlyconnecting.Eventually,Lilaand

Imovedontootherresidents.

beforetoolong:同beforelong

tremble:moveorjerkquicklyandinvoluntarilyupanddownorsideways戰(zhàn)栗；發(fā)抖

resident:someonewholivesataparticularplaceforaprolongedperiodorwhowasbornthere居

民；居住者

Asweturnedtoleave,CaroFshusbandwaswheelingheroverinourdirection,askingfor'justa

fewmoreminutes."Carolwithhereyeswideopen,hadbegunsoftlyspeaking.Wecouldn'treally

understandthewords,butwecoulddecipher^tdog^^injustabouteverysentence.Whenherhusband

stretchedherhandouttowardLila,Carolbegantopetheronherown,softlywhispering.Staff

membersintheunitbegantodriftoverandstare.Awordlessdoghadbeenabletoreachoutthrough

thedarknesswitharayoflight.

wheel:changedirectionsasifrevolvingonapivot推、拉（車）

decipher:changecodeintoordinarylanguage破譯；辨認(rèn)

stretch:todrawoutorextendtothefulllengthorextent伸展；張開(kāi)

pet:strokeorcaressgently輕拍；愛(ài)撫

driftover:acontinuousslowmovementfromoneplacetoanother此處指其他人的眼神飄了過(guò)

來(lái)

Anotherday,wewerejustabouttoleaveahospital'sl.C.U.whenwenoticedamansittingalonein

thefamilywaitingarea.HecaughtsightofLilaandmeandsmiledfaintly,butIcouldtellhewas

distraught.Hisfatherhadsufferedastroke,andhewasapprehensiveabouthisfuture.Inhis

distress,thefatherhadhadaseriousa-fibepisodeandhissonhadrunoutofencouragingthingsto

saytohim.Itseemedthatbothofthemwerereadytogiveup.AsLilaapproachedtheson,hebent

overanddeeplymassagedhershouldersandlaidhisheadagainstherneck.Soon,hestarted

breathingmoreregularly,andwesat