Mystery of the White Gardenia
白梔子花之謎
Every year on my birthday, from the time I turned 12, a white gardenia（梔子花） was sent to my house.
從我12歲起，每年我生日那天，都會有一朵白梔子花送到我家。
There was never a card or note, and calls to the florist（花店） were in vain because the purchase was always made in cash.
從來沒有卡片或便條，打電話給花店也是徒勞，因爲買它的人總是用現金。
After a while, I stopped trying to discover the identity of the sender.
過了一段時間，我不再試圖找出送花者的身份。
I just delighted in the beauty and heady（令人陶醉的） perfume of that one magical, perfect white flower nestled（依偎） in folds of soft pink tissue paper.
我只是陶醉於那朵充滿魅力、完美無暇、依偎在柔軟的粉紅色包裝紙的褶皺裏的白花，以及沁人心脾的芳香。
But I never stopped imagining who the sender might be. Some of my happiest moments were spent daydreaming about the sender.
但我一直在想象送花者是誰。有時候我最開心的時刻就是對送花者的幻想。
My mother encouraged this imagining. She'd ask me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness. Perhaps it was the old man who I looked after when he was ill.
我母親支持我這樣想象。她問我，是否對某個人做過一件特別的善事，也許是一位生病時我照顧過他的老人。
As a girl, I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy who had noticed me even though I didn't know him.
作爲一個女孩，我更多的樂趣在於想象可能是一個我不認識他的男孩注意到了我。
One month before my high school graduation, my father died of a heart attack.
在我高中畢業前一個月，我父親死於心臟病。
I felt very sad and didn't want to go to the upcoming graduation dance at all. And I didn't care whether I had a new dress or not.
我感到很難過，根本不想去參加即將到來的畢業舞會。我也不在乎我有沒有新的禮服。
But my mother, in her own sadness, would not let me miss out on any of these things. The day before the graduation dance, I found a beautiful dress awaiting me on the living-room sofa.
但我的母親儘管自己很難過，但也不會讓我錯過任何這些事情。畢業舞會的前一天，我發現客廳的沙發上有一件漂亮的禮服在等着我。
I may not have cared about having a new dress, but my mother did. She cared how I felt about myself.
我可能不在乎新禮服，但我母親在乎。她在乎我對自己的感覺。
She imbued（使感染） me with a sense of the magic in the world, and she gave me the ability to see beauty even in the face of adversity（逆境）.
她讓我對世界充滿了神奇的感覺，讓我在逆境中也能看到美好。
In truth, my mother wanted me to see myself much like the gardenia — lovely, strong and perfect.
事實上，我母親希望我把自己看作梔子花一樣——可愛、堅強、完美。
My mother died ten days after l was married. I was 28. That was the year the gardenia stopped coming.
我母親在我結婚十天後去世了。那年我28歲，從那以後，再沒有梔子花送來了。
我是閣香書院，如果你喜歡看我的英語文章，想看更多的英語文章的話，歡迎關注我，讓我們一起學習英語，一起進步吧！