温馨夜读 PART3 01 Words From The Heart 心灵之声（在线收听）

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[00:00.86]Eternal Love 永恒之爱

[00:03.38]In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, 

[00:08.29]the cement that binds closer together,

[00:11.47]and the music that brings harmony.

[00:14.65]Words From The Heart 心灵之声

[00:21.21]Most people need to hear those three little words“I love you”.

[00:26.46]Once in a while, they hear them just in time.

[00:30.40]I met Connie the day she was admitted to the hospice room, 

[00:35.15]where I worked as a volunteer.

[00:37.29]Her husband, Bill, stood nervously nearby

[00:41.50]as she was transferred to the hospital bed.

[00:44.18]Although Connie was in the final stages of her fight against cancer, 

[00:49.48]she was alert and cheerful.

[00:51.51]Connie was a romantic. She loved soap operas,

[00:55.71]romance novels and movies with a good love story.

[00:59.39]As we became acquainted, she confided how frustrating it was

[01:04.20]to be married 32 years to a man who often called her “a silly woman”.

[01:09.89]“Oh, I know Bill loves me,”she said,

[01:13.92]“but he has never been one to say he loves me, or send cards to me.”

[01:19.30]She sighed and looked out the window at the trees in the courtyard.

[01:23.90]“I’d give anything if he’d say‘I love you’, 

[01:28.05]but it’s just not in his nature.”

[01:30.79]Bill visited Connie every day.

[01:33.63]One day, I remembered it was February 12, over coffee in the cafeteria,

[01:40.20]I got him on the subject of women and how we need romance in our lives;

[01:45.34]how we love to get sentimental cards and love letters.

[01:49.06]“Do you tell Connie you love her?”I asked (knowing his answer), 

[01:54.42]and he looked at me as if I was crazy.

[01:57.05]“I don’t have to,”he said.“She knows I do!”

[02:02.30]“I’m sure she knows,”I said “but she needs to hear it, Bill.

[02:07.66]She needs to hear what she has meant to you all these years. 

[02:11.93]Please think about it.”

[02:13.57]Two days later I walked down the hospice ward at noon.

[02:17.95]There stood Bill, leaning up against the wall in the hallway, staring at the floor.

[02:23.63]I already knew from the head nurse that Connie had died at 11 a.m.

[02:29.11]When Bill saw me, he said，“I thought a lot about what you said,

[02:33.92]and this morning I told her how much I loved her... and loved being married to her.

[02:39.72]You should have seen her smile!”

[02:42.12]I went into the room to say my own goodbye to Connie.

[02:45.95]There, on the bedside table, was a large Valentine card from Bill.

[02:51.65]You know, the sentimental kind that says,“To my wonderful wife... I love you.”

[02:57.11]Don’t be closefisted in expressing your affection to your beloved lover,

[03:02.47]to your parents and to your friends who are waiting for it.