Wednesday, July 14, 2010

「兩週一聚」第42期題目:【塞翁失馬】 / 2weeks1gather #42: "Life is Full of Surprises"


Prologue: The following article is based on a real story. Some facts are modified to protect the identities and privacy of the individuals involved.

塞翁失馬 / Life is Full of Surprises

當敎育部在九月批准阿健提早退休的申請紙時,他心裏感受真不知道是什么味兒,是憂?是喜? 還是像打翻了的五味架?

大約兩年前,四十歲的阿健在一間公立中學任教一份入息頗好的體育教練職位,他備受學生的愛戴,同事的支持,事業如日中天, 他躊躇滿志,從未有想到退休這一回事。

校長曾私下对他說:『阿健,你的表現良好,我会向教育部推薦你升級加薪。』他聽了心下一樂, 眼瞳遙望美好的將來。

但是平地一声雷,輕微的麻痺原來是腳癌的先兆,緊急手術之後,阿健失去了一截下腿,一個昂堂六呎的男人,一拐一拐的從三樓教員室往楼下操場。肢體殘廢看得見,但心理損傷卻是隱藏在深処。校長也再沒有重提升級一事。

妻子对他說:『你要是做得不愉快,為什么不暫停工作,休息一会兒,我的入息也可以暫時支持我們倆口子的生計。』阿健聽妻子的勸告,請了病假,在家裡呆了数月,最後還是决定申請 permanent disability, 提早退休。

退休之後,阿健在家裏納悶,直到有一天,海地島發生大地震,死傷無數,很多學校被夷為平地!!膝下猶虛的阿健和妻子商量,打定了主意。

在渥太華机場,阿健和妻子依依不捨,臨別時,她倚偎在他懷裏說: 『Ken, now that you have finished your job with the School Board, it's time to find out your real purpose on Earth. 』

想到這裏,阿健心酸了,海風撲面吹來,點點淚水隨風四散。

"Monsieur Ken?" 一把熟悉的声音,把他扯回到現實,一個帶有 Creole 口音的教師關切的望著他。"Ça va?"

"Oui, ça va, Madame Prospere !!"

在加勒比海的艷陽下,阿健和他的海地島同僚,看著一群學生,在凹凸不平的操場中,嬉哈追逐玩耍。

Postscript: Ken's wife eventually joint him overseas. They are now devoting their lives in helping children in developing countries.

Photo caption/credit: A teacher and her students in an under-funded village school (photo taken by Haricot)

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Related articles:
* Lotusandcedar: "愛情的分叉路 / What could have been .... ?"
Chinese: http://lotusandcedar.blogspot.com/2006/12/what-could-have-been_12.html
English: http://lotusandcedar.blogspot.com/2006/12/what-could-have-been.html

Reference:
* Other articles with the same theme/title: http://www.2weeks1gather.wordpress.com/
* Vic: 兩週一聚第四十二期題目: 塞翁失馬
第一次出題,想過幾個題目,覺得這個和生活的關係最大有否試過失去了某些機會/人/事/物而非常不快過了一段時間,可能是幾天,甚至幾年後想起如果不是失去了某東西,就不會有今天自己滿意的生活?七月十五日,談一下你的經歷

6 comments:

~育仔~ said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Haricot 微豆 said...

~育仔~

I have removed your irrelevant comments that appear to be SPAM with a suspicious website address.

Internet business at home automated system said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Haricot 微豆 said...

Another SPAM deleted.

Vic said...

That's a heart-warming story, thanks for sharing!

And sorry to see the spam on your blog. Is there any report-system?

Haricot 微豆 said...

Vic:

Thank you for your comments !!

Spammers will just open other fake user accts when they are being warned and shut down by sys op.

If things get worse, I might have to consider installing the verification gadget.

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