When my parents separated in 1954 I was only 2 years old and I never saw my father again.
1954年,我的父母離婚了,那時我才兩歲,從那之后,我就再也沒見過我的父親。

My mother and her family kept information about my father and his family a secret from me for over half a century.
在將近一個世紀的時間里,我的母親,還有我母親娘家的親戚一直對我守口如瓶,他們閉口不提我的父親,還有我父親這邊的親人。

In 2010 I began to search for my father through Ancestry.Com.
2010年,我開始通過Ancestry.Com網(wǎng)站尋找我父親的相關(guān)信息。

However I learned he had died of cancer on August 6, 1999 in a hospital in Dallas, Texas.
沒有想到,我得到的是一個噩耗。我父親早已在1999年8月6日去世,在德克薩斯州達拉斯市的一家醫(yī)院里,死因是癌癥。

When I got my father's death certificate the medical examiner told me because my father had no relatives around the city buried him in a body bag in a unmarked grave in an old cemetery.
我終于拿到了父親的死亡證明時,當(dāng)時的法醫(yī)告訴我,由于我父親在當(dāng)?shù)貨]有任何家屬,醫(yī)院只能把他埋葬在一個廢舊的墓地里,墓碑上沒有名字,遺骸入殮于廉價的裹尸袋之中。

I knew my father served in WW2 so I decided to work on getting his remains brought back to my state to be buried in our national cemetery.
我知道父親是二戰(zhàn)老兵,我決定想盡一切辦法,把父親的遺骸帶回我所在的州,入葬在國家公墓。

From 2011 to 2017 I kept working on lowering my debt from a divorce and increase my credit score so someday I could get a personal loan.
后來我離婚了,從2011年到2017年,六年的時間里,我一直設(shè)法降低自己由于離婚所必須支付的債務(wù),并提升我的個人信用度,以冀某天我能獲得一筆個人貸款,完成我讓父親入土在國家公墓的心愿。

That certificate of military service proved my father served 43 months in WW2 in the U.S.A. Army Air Force fighting the Nazi's.
軍方出具了一份證明,證明我父親在二戰(zhàn)期間服役于美國空軍,與納粹戰(zhàn)斗了43個月之久。

I still did not have the money though.
但我還是出不起巨額的轉(zhuǎn)葬費。

In July of 2018 a bank approved a $10,000 personal loan so I had a funeral director apply for a permit to exhume my father.
2018年7月,銀行批準了我的個人貸款,我獲得了1萬美元的貸款,我聯(lián)系了一位喪葬承辦人,請他代理申請父親的轉(zhuǎn)葬事宜。

After 4 months of waiting I asked Senator Brown for help again in November.
經(jīng)過4個月的漫長等待,在11月,我不得不再次請求一位姓Brown的議員伸出援手。

Six days after he contacted Texas officials a permit was granted.
他為我跟德克薩斯州政府官員進行了交涉,6天后,轉(zhuǎn)葬事宜獲得了批準。

On July, 9, 2019?a airplane will land at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport where I will be finally reunited with my father and touch his metal casket and the missing piece of my heart will be restored.
明年7月9日,一架飛機將會把我父親的遺骸送到克里夫蘭霍普金斯國際機場,到那時,我們父子就終于可以重聚了,我可以觸碰到他的金屬棺材,我心里的空洞終于可以填滿了。

On January 10, 2019 the Ohio Patriot Guard Riders will escort my father's hearse through my home town to be buried with honors in our states National cemetery and one day in January Senator Brown will have a American Flag flown over our Nation's Capital to honor my father.
2019年1月10日,俄亥俄州愛國者衛(wèi)隊騎手將護衛(wèi)著父親的靈柩穿過我所在的城市,將遺體禮葬在國家公墓。同一個月,議員Brown先生將帶著一面美國國旗飛躍首都上空,向我的父親致敬。

If you never give up one day your dream will become reality.
只要堅持不放棄,總有一天,你的愿望會變成現(xiàn)實。

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(翻譯:小木)