When I was a boy our extended, immigrant family would sometimes gather together at my Great Aunt’s tiny house over the summer.
當(dāng)我還是一個小男孩的時候，我們那個人丁興旺的移民家族常常來曾姨母的小房子里歡聚消暑。

Relatives from all over the country would come in to visit.
來自全國各地的親戚都會在這里聚集。

The adults would crowd together in the living room, around the kitchen table, and on the front porch to talk and catch up on each other’s lives.
長輩們會聚在客廳里，圍坐在餐廳的桌子邊，或者排排站正在門廊邊，閑話家常，了解彼此最近的生活狀況。

All of us kids would be sent out into the front yard to play while dinner would slowly cook for all of us.
而我們這些孩子會被送到屋前的庭院里去玩耍，與此同時，大人們?yōu)榇蠹揖呐腼兺聿汀?/div>

Those were the days before video games, smart phones, and motorized toys,
那是電子游戲，智能手機(jī)和電動玩具尚未誕生的時代

so we often ended up playing a good old-fashioned game of tag.
最后我們常常只能玩一場傳統(tǒng)的追跑游戲。

I remember one of those times especially.
有一場游戲讓我尤其記憶深刻

I was the youngest and smallest of all the kids there
在同輩的孩子中，我是最晚出生，身形最矮小的一個

so I got caught first and couldn’t catch anyone else.
所以我第一個被抓到了，由我當(dāng)“鬼”的時候，卻誰也抓不著

As hard as I chased after my brothers and cousins
盡管我用盡力氣追著哥哥們和表兄表姐們狂跑

they were all too fast for me.
他們?nèi)急任遗艿每於嗔?/div>

I grew more and more frustrated .
我感到越來越沮喪

I finally lunged at one of my brothers
最后我朝一個哥哥猛沖過去

and fell face first into the dirt.
臉朝下跌倒在泥地里

I got up with tears forming in my eyes.
我爬起來，眼中噙滿淚水

Then I saw one of my female cousins standing there.
這時，我看見一個堂姐站在那里看著我

She started to run but was going much slower than before.
她開始跑起來，但是比往常慢得多

I easily caught up and tagged her.
我很輕易的抓住了她，又她來當(dāng)“鬼”了。

Then she turned to me, smiled, and said,
她轉(zhuǎn)過臉來沖我微笑，然后說道，

“I’m it! You’d better run!”
“我來當(dāng)‘鬼’，你最好快跑！”

I ran off laughing with glee
我感到滿心歡喜，大笑著跑開了

while she turned and started to chase one of my older brothers.
堂姐轉(zhuǎn)過身，開始朝我的一個哥哥追過去

I see now how her act of kindness that day saved me from sadness and returned me to joy.
直到現(xiàn)在我才懂得，那天她充滿善意的舉動撫慰了我的沮喪，讓我轉(zhuǎn)憂為喜

It didn’t matter that we hardly ever saw each other.
后來我們很少再見到對方了，但這沒關(guān)系

We were family and she loved me.
我們是親人，她愛著我。

We are all one, we all belong to each other, we are one big, beautiful family.
我們所有人都是屬于一個整體，我們屬于彼此，我們都是龐大的，幸福的大家庭的一員

Perhaps it is time that we all started to treat each other that way.
或許現(xiàn)在是時候，我們開始用這種態(tài)度對待彼此

Perhaps it is time that we shared our love, our kindness, our laughter, and our joy with everyone without fear.
或許現(xiàn)在是時候，我們開始坦然無畏的分享彼此的愛，善良，歡笑和喜悅。

Perhaps it is time to finally and forever bring this world together in one, big, family reunion .
經(jīng)過分歧和坎坷，或許現(xiàn)在是時候，最終讓這個世界組成一個大家族，直至永遠(yuǎn)。

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翻譯：小木