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 found the football in the garage and asked to play with it. I explained he was too young to handle such a special item. He asked several more times over the months, but eventually stopped.
The following fall, after watching a game on TV, Tom asked again, "Dad, can I use that football 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 football. It's special."
He stopped asking altogether. However, he remembered it and later told his younger brother, Dave, about the special football in the garage. Dave eventually came to me with the same request. I patiently gave him the same explanation I had given Tom.
But then I realized it wasn't special anymore.
Standing alone in the garage after my sons had grown and moved away, I had an epiphany. The football was never inherently special. What would have made it special was my children playing with it during their childhood. 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 football.
Now, it was finally special.
中文翻译
那是1964年，地点在芝加哥。一位同事正在以非常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，我买了一个，打算作为他“从医院回家”的特殊礼物。
几年后，我的小儿子汤姆在车库里翻找时发现了这个橄榄球，请求玩它。我向他解释，他还太小，不能小心对待如此特别的球。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，看完一场电视上的橄榄球比赛后，汤姆又问：“爸爸，记得你车库里的那个橄榄球吗？我现在可以拿它和朋友们玩吗？”我翻着白眼回答：“汤姆，你不明白。你不能就这么随随便便地拿一个全皮革、NFL标准、1963芝加哥熊队的橄榄球出去乱扔。我告诉过你，它很特别。”
他彻底不再问了。然而，他记住了这件事，后来告诉了他的弟弟戴维，关于车库里那个特别的橄榄球。戴维有一天也来找我，提出了同样的请求。我耐心地给了他和我曾给汤姆一样的解释。
但那时我意识到，它不再特别了。
在儿子们早已长大离家后，我独自站在车库里，突然顿悟。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期用它玩耍的时光。我为了保存一个物件，牺牲了那些珍贵且无法挽回的当下时刻。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。几小时后，我望向窗外。他们正在扔、接、踢，并让它在水泥地上滑行——我的那个全皮革、NFL标准、1963芝加哥熊队橄榄球。
现在，它终于变得特别了。