美国国家公共电台 NPR Preserving Memories: In Emails To A Toddler, A Window Into Her Parents' Love

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

A few weeks back, we invited our listeners to tell us about IT-related emotional breakdowns¹. We asked NPR's Alina Selyukh to read all the messages, and one of them stuck with her. It came from a mother distraught by a loss of an email draft to her toddler. That got Alina interested in this process of preserving childhood, and she called the mom to learn more.

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE²: For me, the story started with a lost email, but what really got me was the reason behind it. Annie Hudson was documenting tiny elements of a memory, events so ordinary they would definitely be forgotten yet so treasured, she wanted to hold on, which takes us to the real start of the story.

AVA: Marshmallow's scary.

SELYUKH: The birth of Ava, Annie's daughter with husband David VonDerLinn.

AVA: You're not scary.

DAVID VONDERLINN: When you have kids and when life is just going by faster and faster, you just forget things so easily, and...

ANNIE HUDSON: And you think you're not going to forget, but you do.

SELYUKH: When Ava was born, Annie became obsessed³ with preserving memories. She ordered baby books from Amazon - one, then another, sent them back. They didn't seem right.

HUDSON: I was driving my husband and my sister and my friends crazy. They were just like, just pick a book, and start writing in it.

SELYUKH: In the end, she did. Its pages started to fill up with handwriting, cramming⁴ toward the bottom. She didn't want to document milestones⁵. She wanted to record thoughts, stories. Anxious, Annie called her sister to ask how she handled all this with her son.

HUDSON: And she said, well, you know, I write him emails.

SELYUKH: And that's how little Ava got her very first email.

VONDERLINN: (Reading) Hi, Ava Bean. This is your dad, who is still getting a little used to that title, emailing you on February 11, 2015 at 8:49 in the morning from his office.

SELYUKH: From there, the emails poured in - a video of Eva learning to stand, later to walk, a quick photo from the zoo, a story of Ava requesting a pillow be placed at her feet for sleep, all digital markers of the passage of time and with it a phenomenal, relentless⁶ transformation⁷ of a tiny human.

HUDSON: (Reading) Sometimes the days just blur⁸ together, and it's easy to forget that you will not always be this age and this size. I was reminded of this earlier today, and it stopped me in my tracks and made me cry. And you started singing "Ring Around The Rosies."

You love this tune⁹ and have been singing it for a while now, but you usually start it out with your own special rendition - (singing) paco hosies (ph) and then (singing) ashes, ashes we all fall down. But because you have always started the song out this way until today - you started out correctly - (singing) ring around the rosies - it kind of broke my heart. Maybe you'll still sometimes say paco hosies, but I fear I've heard it for the last time.

VONDERLINN: (Reading) I saw you running back and forth¹⁰ on the play equipment, and you looked so happy and free. I didn't want to interrupt you, so I decided¹¹ I would go ahead and leave without disturbing you. I went through the gate and turned around, and there you were, standing¹² at the other side of the playground, looking back at me. The sun was shining behind you and lining¹³ up your rainbow dress and wild, blond hair. You looked like a colorful angel.

You stared at me for a moment, I think wondering if you should run to me for a goodbye hug. And I wondered that, too. Then you turned and ran back to play, and I suddenly realized that you've grown just a little bit. You're a little bit more independent, a little more brave, a little more powerful. My heart aches at the idea of you growing up, but I know that this is the way of the world.

AVA: I don't want to take a nap.

SELYUKH: Ava is now almost 3. Annie and David don't really know how or when they'll tell her about the emails. For now, Ava just knows she has a surprise, and it's in the ether, a word she learned from "Curious George."

VONDERLINN: You know what we're talking about?

HUDSON: Can you say hi to Alina?

AVA: Hi, Alina.

VONDERLINN: Say NPR is the best.

AVA: PPR (ph) is the best.

(LAUGHTER)

SELYUKH: From PPR News in Washington, I'm Alina Selyukh.

(SOUNDBITE OF MINOTAUR SHOCK SONG, "MY BURR")

1 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

4 cramming   

n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课

参考例句：

• Being hungry for the whole morning, I couldn't help cramming myself. 我饿了一上午，禁不住狼吞虎咽了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She's cramming for her history exam. 她考历史之前临时抱佛脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 milestones   

n.重要事件( milestone的名词复数 )；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑

参考例句：

• Several important milestones in foreign policy have been passed by this Congress and they can be chalked up as major accomplishments. 这次代表大会通过了对外政策中几起划时代的事件，并且它们可作为主要成就记录下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dale: I really envy your milestones over the last few years, Don. 我真的很羡慕你在过去几年中所建立的丰功伟绩。 来自互联网

6 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

7 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

8 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

9 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

10 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。