She wanted her children to feel loved and lovable， creative and imaginative， imbued with a sense that there was magic in the world and beauty in the face of adversity.
Mystery of the White Gardenia
Marsh Arons
Every year on my birthday， from the time I turned 12， a white gardenia was delivered to my house in Bethesda， Md. No card or note came with it. Calls to the florist were always in vain—it was a cash purchasecash purchase n. 现金购买. After a whole I stopped trying to discover the senders identity and just delighted in the beauty and headyheady adj.鲁莽的， 顽固的， 任性的， 性急的， 猛烈的 perfume of that one magical， perfect white flower nestled in soft pink paper.
母亲希望自己的孩子能感受到爱，讨人喜欢，富有创造力和想像力，她还希望我们能感到世间万物的魔力和面对逆境时能够展现出别样的美。
神秘的栀子花
玛莎·阿伦斯
打我十二岁那年起，每到过生日那天，都会有一朵白色的栀子花送到我在马里兰州贝塞斯达的家中。没有卡片，也无留言。我曾多次打电话询问花店老板，但每次都是徒劳，因为那是用现金支付的。一段时间后，我不再四处打听谁是赠花人，而是尽情欣赏着那朵用柔软的粉红色纸包着的纯白无比的栀子花，陶醉于它的美丽和馨香之中。
But I never stopped imagining who the anonymousanonymous adj.匿名的 giver might be. Some of my happiest moments were spent daydreaming about wonderful and exciting but shy or eccentric to make known his or her identityidentity n.同一性， 身份， 一致， 特性， 恒等式.
My mother contributedcontribute vt.捐献，捐助；投稿 to these imaginings. Shed ask me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness who might be showing appreciation. Perhaps the neighbor Id help when she was unloading a car full of groceriesgrocery n. 食品；杂货. Or maybe it was the old man across the street whose mail I retrievedretrieve v.恢复；寻回 during the winter so he wouldnt have to ventureventure n.& vi.冒险 down his icy steps. As a teenager， though， I had more fun speculating that it might be a boy I had a crush on or one had noticed me even though I didnt know him.
即便如此，我一直在猜想那个未留姓名的赠花人是谁。我的幸福时光，有时就是在一些异想天开中度过的，但碍于害羞和孤傲却让我无法弄清他(她)究竟是谁。
母亲的关心勾起了我这些想像。她总会问我，是不是我曾给过某人特殊的帮助，别人才会用这种方式向我表示谢意；或者是邻居？由于我曾帮她卸过满满一车的杂货；抑或是住在街对面的那个老人？因为在寒冬里我帮他取过信件，这样他就不必战栗地走下自家门前那结冰的台阶了。然而风华正茂的我，更喜欢推测赠花人是我喜欢的某个男孩子，或是我并不知晓但钟情于我的男孩子。
When I was 17， a boy broke my heart. The night he called for me the last time， I cried myself to sleep.
When I awoke in the morning， there was a messagemessage n.消息；信息 scribbledscribble 潦草书写 on my mirror in red lipsticklipstick n.唇膏，口红 “Heartily know， when half gods go， the gods arrive.” I thought about that quotationquotation n.引用语， 价格， 报价单， 行情表 from Emerson for a long time， I left it where my mother had written it.
When I finally went to get the glass cleanercleaner n.清洁工， my mother knew everything was all right again.
I dont remember ever slammingslam vt.使劲关，砰地放下 my door in anger at her and shouting， “You just dont understand！” Because she did understand.
十七岁那年，一个男孩儿伤透了我的心。他最后打电话给我的那天晚上，我流着泪睡了。
第二天清晨醒来，我发现有人用口红在镜子上写道：“我们知道，该走的终究会走，该来的一定会来。”我默默地思考着爱默生的这句名言，我留下母亲写的这句话。
当有一天我终于从镜子上抹去那几个字时，母亲知道一切又恢复正常。
我已忘记自己曾当她的面怒发冲冠“砰”地关上门，并冲她吼道：“你根本不了解！”那是因为她确实了解这一切。
One month before my highschool graduation， my father died of a heart attack. My feelings ranged from grief to abandonmentabandonment n.放弃， fear and overwhelming anger that my dad was missing some of the most important events in my life. I became completely uninterested in my upcoming graduation， the seniorclass play and the prom. But my mother， in the midst of her own grief， would not hear of my skipping any of those things.
The day before my father died， my mother and I had gone shopping for a prom dress. Wed found a spectacular one， with yards of dotted swiss in red， white and blue. It made me feel like Scarlett OHara， but it was the wrong size. When my father died， I forgot the dress.
My mother didnt. The day before the prom， I found that dress in the right size draped majestically over the livingroom sofa. It was presented to me—beautifully， artisticallyartistically adv.有艺术地， 在艺术上， lovingly.
在我高中毕业前一个月，父亲心脏病发作永远地离开了我们。当时我的情绪波动很大，有时悲痛欲绝；有时自暴自弃，甚至非常气愤，因为父亲再也参加不了我一生中的某些最重要的活动了。那时，我对于即将到来的毕业典礼、毕业班的演出和班级舞会完全没了兴致。但母亲忍住了悲痛，她不会让我错过这些事情。
父亲去世的前一天，我和母亲去买参加班级舞会穿的衣服。我们看中了一件很特别的薄纱礼服，上面印着有多红、白、蓝色的花点。穿着它，我感觉就像郝思嘉一样漂亮，只是有尺寸不合适。父亲去世后，我就忘记了衣服的事。
但母亲没有忘。舞会的前天，我发现那件衣服挂在起居室的沙发上方，端庄华美，而且尺寸也刚好合适。这是母亲特地送给我的——漂亮、高雅，惹人喜爱。
I didnt care if I had a new dress or not. But my mother did.
She wanted her children to feel loved and lovable， creative and imaginative， imbued with a sense that there was magic in the world and beauty in the face of adversityadversity n.不幸， 灾祸. In truth， my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia—lovely， strong and perfect—with an aura of magic and perhaps a bit of mystery.
My mother died ten days after I was married， I was 22. That was the year the gardenias stopped coming.
我当时根本不在乎是否有新衣服，可母亲却很在意。
母亲希望自己的孩子能感受到爱，讨人喜欢，富有创造力和想像力，她还希望我们能感到世间万物的魔力和面对逆境时能够展现出别样的美。实际上，母亲希望自己的孩子觉得自己像栀子花一样的可爱、顽强和完美无暇，带些魔力，或许还有些神秘吧。
我结婚后的第十天，妈妈离开了人世，那年我二十二岁。从此，我就再没有收到过栀子花了。
一位母亲对女儿的无微不至的关怀就这样不着痕迹地体现在字里行间，这种人世间最纯洁、最无私的爱算不上轰轰烈烈，但是却最令人感动，最令人难忘。而触动感情防线的往往是那些生命中的细微部分，真情自然流淌，交融着爱的伟大与平凡。
