English Original
The year was 1964 in Chicago. A colleague was selling a few all-leather, NFL-regulation footballs inscribed with "1963 Chicago Bears" at a great price. With my first son on the way, I bought one as a special "coming home" gift for him.
Years later, my young son Tom, around five or six, found the football while rummaging in the garage. He asked to play with it. I explained, as logically as I could, that he was too young to handle such a special ball carefully. He asked a few more times over the next months, but eventually stopped.
The following fall, after watching a game on TV, Tom asked again, "Dad, remember that football in the garage? Can I use it to play with the guys now?"
I replied with exasperation, "Tom, you don't understand. You don't just casually throw around an all-leather, NFL-regulation, 1963 Chicago Bears-inscribed football. It's special."
He eventually stopped asking altogether. However, he remembered it and later told his younger brother, Dave, about the special football kept in the garage. Dave came to me one day with the same request. Though it felt familiar, I patiently explained again why we couldn't just play with that football.
But then I realized it wasn't special anymore.
Standing alone in the garage after my sons had grown and moved away, I had a sudden revelation: the football had never been inherently special. What would have made it special was my children playing with it in their youth. I had sacrificed those precious, irreplaceable moments to preserve a mere object. For what?
I took the football across the street and gave it to a family with young children. A couple of hours later, I looked out the window. They were throwing, catching, kicking, and letting it skid across the cement—my all-leather, NFL-regulation, 1963 Chicago Bears-inscribed football.
Now, it was truly special.
中文翻译
那是1964年，在芝加哥。一位同事正在以优惠的价格出售几个全皮革、符合NFL标准、刻有“1963芝加哥熊队”字样的橄榄球。我的第一个儿子即将出生，我买下了一个，作为给他的一份特别的“回家”礼物。
几年后，我年幼的儿子汤姆，大约五六岁，在车库里翻找时发现了这个橄榄球。他请求玩这个球。我尽可能用他能理解的逻辑向他解释，他还太小，无法小心对待这样一个特别的球。接下来的几个月里，他又问了几次，但最终不再提了。
第二年秋天，在电视上看完一场比赛后，汤姆再次问道：“爸爸，还记得车库里的那个橄榄球吗？我现在可以拿它和朋友们玩吗？”
我带着恼怒回答：“汤姆，你不明白。你不能就这么随随便便地拿一个全皮革、符合NFL标准、刻有1963年芝加哥熊队字样的橄榄球去玩。我以前告诉过你，它很特别。”
他最终完全不再问了。然而，他记住了这件事，后来告诉了他的弟弟戴维，关于那个藏在车库里的特别橄榄球。有一天，戴维也来找我提出了同样的请求。虽然感觉似曾相识，我还是耐心地再次解释了为什么我们不能随便玩那个球。
但那时我意识到，它不再特别了。
在儿子们长大离家后，我独自站在车库里，突然醒悟：这个橄榄球本身从来就不特别。让它变得特别的，本应是我的孩子们在童年时用它玩耍。我牺牲了那些珍贵、无法挽回的当下时刻，只为保存一件物品。为了什么呢？
我拿着橄榄球过街，把它送给了一户有小孩的家庭。几个小时后，我望向窗外。他们正在扔、接、踢，让它在水泥地上滑行——我那全皮革、符合NFL标准、刻有1963年芝加哥熊队字样的橄榄球。
现在，它才真正变得特别了。