2007年NPR美国国家公共电台二月-Sweet Friday

I believe in figuring out my own way to do things.
I believe in the power of numbers.
I believe in barbeque.
Well, I believe in friendliness¹.
I believe in mankind.
This I Believe.

We invite everyone to write for our series This I Believe. And today's essay comes from Lena Winkler of Worthington, Ohio. She is a 3rd year medical student with 5 young children. Here's our series curator, independent producer Jay Alison.

Many people send us essays about holding on to a belief during times of hardship, times when even the belief itself can be damaged and needs to be restored. That's what Lena Winkler is doing with help from her children and plenty of sugar. Here she is with her essay for This I Believe.

I believe in the power of tradition. I'm a mother of 5 children ages 4 to 10. And I'm in my 3rd year of medical school, I'm also going through a divorce. The details of the divorce, who's right, who's wrong, are not important, because like all divorces, everyone gets hurt. I would be relying on traditions, to pull us through this intact.

Last year I earned medical school credit working with a nonprofit healthcare organization for women and children in the Republic of Georgia. Georgia, formerly² a Soviet³ Country, reminds me of my family, collapsed⁴ and worried, but bright with personality, strength and hope.

When I finished my work there, I brought home the traditional dolls, daggers⁵ and wine but I also brought home tick believe *, sweet Friday.

It was a tradition of our Georgian office where every Friday at 3 pm, work with a stop for a blissful half hour while we convene⁶ in the basement kitchen to feast on cake, gorgeous, fluffy⁷, delights of cream and sugar. The cook, drivers, doctors, office staff and bosses would gather to connect and relax. Then slightly lightheaded, and sometimes even a little nauseous from overdoing⁸ it. We would return to our offices to wrap up business before the weekend.

My 5 children and I have instituted this indulgence among our neighborhood friends ever since. Sometimes we baked the night before, huge lopsided layer cakes, outsize cookies are sloppy⁹ attempts the parfaits. Sometimes if medical school obligation's overwhelming, I whir through the grocery stores as I raced home, grabbing cookies, bright paper plates and napkins. It's not just the extravagant¹⁰ sweetness of the afternoon, or the regularity¹¹ of the occasion that qualifies these as a tradition. It's the attention to detail and the anticipation¹². Always a table cloth, maybe not ironed and always a scent¹³ of peace, pie and bouse, a pumpkin¹⁴, or some flowers from the garden. My children and I fantasize about the event all week long and then walking home from school on Fridays, we round up everyone we pass. "We're having cake today, come by. There's coffee and milk too."

Mother and children linger in the yard on nice warm days, abandoned backpacks and jackets strewn across the grass.

In the winter children squeeze tui to a chair around our big kitchen table and the mother's crammed¹⁵ to the living room.

Sweet Friday, it's now a part of our uncertain and frightening divorce dominated life. I feel a responsibility to keep up with small traditions like sweet Friday and not slip into dread¹⁶ or self-pity. I believe that by stubbornly maintaining this weekly tradition, my kids and I are creating a ritual to carry us into the future. Already we reminisce about past week Fridays and daydream¹⁷ about the one coming up.

Lena Winkler with her essay for This I Believe. In the recording¹⁸ studio where Winkler read, her 5 children sat me other side of the glass, listening. It was Friday and they are on their way to get candy and cakes to bring back to the neighbors. To see the more than 20,000 essays that have been sent to our series or to submit one of your own, visit npr.org. For This I Believe, I am Jay Alison.

Next Monday, on morning edition, This I Believe essay from Wing Coinne, leaved singer of the Rock Group, the fleming lips. Support for This I Believe comes from Kampala University.

1 friendliness   

n.友谊，亲切，亲密

参考例句：

• Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面，我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
• His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。

2 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

3 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 daggers   

匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I will speak daggers to her, but use none. 我要用利剑一样的话刺痛她的心，但绝不是真用利剑。
• The world lives at daggers drawn in a cold war. 世界在冷战中剑拨弩张。

6 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

7 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

8 overdoing   

v.做得过分( overdo的现在分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• He's been overdoing things recently. 近来他做事过分努力。 来自辞典例句
• You think I've been overdoing it with the work thing? 你认为我对工作的关注太过分了吗？ 来自电影对白

9 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

10 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

11 regularity   

n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐

参考例句：

• The idea is to maintain the regularity of the heartbeat.问题就是要维持心跳的规律性。
• He exercised with a regularity that amazed us.他锻炼的规律程度令我们非常惊讶。

12 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

13 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

14 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

15 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

16 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

17 daydream   

v.做白日梦，幻想

参考例句：

• Boys and girls daydream about what they want to be.孩子们遐想着他们将来要干什么。
• He drifted off into another daydream.他飘飘然又做了一个白日梦。

18 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。