读者文摘:婚姻超过25年的唐氏综合征夫妇(2)（在线收听）

Their family worked hard to keep them together. They believe that Kris and Paul deserve the chance to make the same decisions as any couple when one partner faces dementia.

他们的家庭努力使他们在一起。他们认为，当另一半患了痴呆的时候，就像其他任何夫妇一样，克里斯和保罗理应拥有做决定的权利，

"They should define their own lives," Susan Scharoun, Kris's sister, told Today. "They know what is good for them."

苏珊·沙鲁恩是克里斯姐姐，她告诉《今日美国》，“他们应该定义自己的生活，他们知道什么对他们是好的。”

When the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities determined that Paul could not stay in the couple's home, the family petitioned.

当纽约州发育障碍人士办公室决定保罗不能呆在这对夫妇的家里时，他们一家向法院提出了上诉。

They even found a new apartment that met the state's standards and was more easily accessible for Paul.

他们甚至找到了一套符合该州标准的新公寓，对保罗来说也更容易到达。

At first, the state agreed—a huge victory—but Paul's condition continued to deteriorate.

起初，纽约州同意了-一个巨大的胜利-但是保罗的情况在继续恶化。

By that time he was using a wheelchair and required round-the-clock care. The state decided he needed to move to the facility after all.

在保罗到了使用轮椅、需要全天候护理的时候，纽约州最终决定他需要搬到提供重症护理的社区住宅。

The couple was disappointed but not daunted. Kris visits Paul regularly, and they spend weekends together at Scharoun's house, where Kris still cooks for her groom.

这对夫妇感到失望，但是没有气馁。克里斯定期来看保罗，他们会在沙鲁恩家度过周末，在那里，克里斯依旧为她丈夫做饭。

"They have an unconditional love," Scharoun said. "They totally complement each other."

沙鲁恩说，“他们无条件爱着彼此，他们完全互补。”

The ongoing quest to keep them together reminds Lorraine DeForge, Paul's mother, of all the obstacles her son has overcome.

为了让他们在一起而付出的持续的努力让保罗的母亲罗琳·狄芙格想起来自己的儿子克服的种种障碍。

With help from his seven brothers and sisters, he mastered the bus service in Syracuse.

在七个兄弟姐妹的帮助下，保罗精通了雪城的公共汽车服务工作。

He spent many years working at the Arc of Onondaga's vocational division.

他在奥内达加的职业部门工作了很多年。

In 2013, this local chapter of the Arc, a nationwide community organization that advocates for the developmentally disabled,

2013年，一个支持发展性障碍的全国社区组织的地方分会

cited Paul's work ethic, community service, and good cheer when it named him Person of the Year.

在评选保罗为“年度人物”时，提到了保罗的职业道德、社区服务和乐观精神。

DeForge remembered how some doctors told her "not to expect much" when Paul was born.

狄芙格记得在保罗出生的时候，一些医生说不要对他“期待过多”。

Instead, he grew up to live a successful life that included a marriage that has lasted a quarter century.

相反，他长大后过上了成功的生活，包括一段持续了25年的婚姻。

Kris has had her struggles too. While she speaks with passion of the support of her parents,

克里斯也有她的困难。虽然她会满怀激情地谈到父母的支持，

she spent a year as a child in a state institution after her father died young and her mother became ill.

但是她父亲英年早逝，母亲患病后，她在一家州立机构度过了一年的童年时光。

"It was hard," she said quietly, recalling the sense of isolation. Then and now, she said, some people could be cruel.

“这很艰难，”她平静地说，回忆起被孤立的感觉。她说，过去和现在的有些人可能很残忍。

She still encounters the occasional stranger who makes casual and wounding use of the word retard.

她仍然会遇到一些偶尔使用智障这个词的陌生人。

The truth is, those people have no idea how rich and rewarding her life is.

事实上，那些人根本不知道她的生活是多么丰富和有意义。

They cannot appreciate how Kris, a diabetic, has the courage to give herself insulin injections four times every day.

他们无法理解身为糖尿病患者的克丽丝，如何有勇气每天给自己注射四次胰岛素。

They cannot understand how Kris learned to be a skilled cook and graduated from high school, or how she gets up in the morning to go to work in an office mail room,

他们不明白克丽丝是如何学会做一名熟练的厨师，并从高中毕业的，也不明白她早上是如何起床去办公室收发室工作的，

or how she and Paul maintain a fierce allegiance to NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.

他们也无法理解她和保罗是如何对纳斯卡赛车手小戴尔·恩哈特保持着强烈的忠诚。

They cannot see the kind of commitment that endures after 25 years, and is every bit as fresh today: "to have and to hold, in sickness and in health."

他们看不到那种25年后依然存在的承诺，如今仍历历在目：“无论健康还是疾病，都要拥有并坚持下去。”

And they can't see how, as Kris sits in her own living room and recalls those vows from her wedding day, she is surrounded by photos of herself with the man who changed her life.

而且当克里斯坐在自己的客厅里，回想起她结婚那天的誓言时，在他们看不到她是怎样被自己和那个改变了她生活的男人的照片所包围。