Laughter, Tears as Former First Lady Barbara Bush1 Remembered

文/杰布·布什 译/杜磊 审订/肖维青

Jeb Bush gave a touching eulogy to his iconic mother on Saturday which included jokes and tear-jerking anecdotes about her 73-year-old romance with his father. Here is Jeb’s eulogy in full. 周六，杰布·布什为大众心中的偶像、自己的母亲发布了一篇悼词，回顾了父母73年伉俪情深的点滴小事，不乏说笑，也催人泪下。以下是悼词全文：

1芭芭拉·布什（1925—2018），美国前总统老布什的夫人,于2018年4月17日去世。2018年4月21日，杰布·布什在芭芭拉的葬礼上发表了这篇悼词。杰布·布什曾任第43届佛罗里达州州长，是乔治·H.W.布什和芭芭拉·布什夫妇的次子。Jeb是其昵称而非本名，是他的全名John Ellis Bush三个词的首字母缩写。

As I stand here today to share a few words about my mom, I feel her looming22 loom隐现；临近。presence behind me.

And I know exactly what she’s thinking right now. “Jeb, keep it short. Don’t drag this out. People have already heard enough remarks already and most of all,don’t get weepy. Remember, I’ve spent decades laughing and living a life with these people!”

[2] And that is true.

Barbara Bush filled our lives with

今天，我站在这里，想和诸位聊聊我母亲。此刻，我感到她隐约在我身后。

我非常清楚她此刻在想什么——“杰布，长话短说，别拖拖拉拉的。各方评说，大家已经听得够多了。最要紧的是，别哭哭啼啼的。记住，这些可都是几十年来和我一道欢声笑语、共同生活的人呐！”

[2]确实如此。laughter and joy and in the case of her family, she was our teacher and role model on how to live a life of purpose and meaning.

[3] On behalf of our family we want to thank the thousands and thousands of expressions of condolence and love for our precious mother.

[4] We want to thank mom’s caregivers for their compassionate care in the last months of her life. I want to thank Neil and Maria for their next door family love of our parents and thank John and Suzanne for their eloquent words. Meacham3Jon Meacham乔恩·米彻姆，总统历史学家，芭芭拉·布什多年的好友。, it might have been a little long but it was beautiful.

[5] We want to thank Russ and Laura for their friendship and pastoral care of our parents and we want to thank all that are gathered here to celebrate the life of Barbara Bush.

[6] It is appropriate to express gratitude because we learned to do that at a very early age.

You see our mom was our first and most important teacher. “Sit up, look people in the eye, say please and thank you, do your homework, quit whining and stop complaining, eat your broccoli”.

Yes, Dad she said that.

[7] The little things we learned became habits and they led to bigger things like, be kind. Always tell the

芭芭拉·布什让我们的生活充满欢声笑语。在家庭中，她是我们的老师，也是我们的榜样，教导我们人生要如何过得有目标、有意义。

[3]我谨代表全家，感谢千千万万向我们珍爱的母亲致辞表达哀悼和爱意的朋友。

[4]我们要感谢护理人员在母亲生命最后数个月间对她的贴心照顾；我要感谢尼尔和玛丽亚给予父母的亲情陪伴；感谢约翰与苏珊娜动人的致辞。米彻姆,你的发言也许有点长了，但很精彩。

[5]感谢拉斯与劳拉的友情，以及他们给予我父母的教牧关怀，感谢各位一齐赶到现场来纪念芭芭拉·布什的一生。

[6]我们应该表达感谢，因为我们很小的时候就学到了这一点。

母亲是我们第一位也是最重要的一位老师。“坐直了，看着别人的眼睛，要说‘请’和‘谢谢’，做功课去，少诉苦，别发牢骚，吃掉你的西兰花。”

没错，爸爸，妈妈说过这些话。

[7]这些小事，我们学会了之后就变成了习惯，最终成就了更好的品质，比如要与人truth. Never disparage4disparage贬低；轻视。anyone. Serve others.

Treat everyone as you would want to be treated and love your God with your heart and soul. What a blessing to have a teacher like that 24/7. Now to be clear,her students weren’t perfect. That’s an understatement.

[8] Mom got us through our dif fi cult times with consistent, take-it-to-thebank5take it to the bank绝对肯定，打包票。, unconditional but tough love.

She called her style, a benevolent dictatorship. But honestly, it wasn’t always benevolent.

[9] When our children got a little older, they would spend more time visiting their Gampy and Ganny6Gampy and Ganny是布什家族孙辈亲切地称呼老布什与芭芭拉的一种方式。.

All it would take would be one week and when they came home, all of a sudden they were pitching in7pitch in热情投入；拼命地干。around the house. They didn’t fight as much and they were actually nice to be with.

[10] I attribute this to the unbridled8unbridled没有拘束的；猛烈的。fear of the ganny lecture9lecture（冗长的）教训，训斥。and the habit forming effects of better behavior taking hold. Even in her 90s, mom could strike fear into her grandchildren, nephews,nieces and her children, if someone didn’t behave.为善，永远讲真话，永远不要贬损任何一个人，要服务他人。

以你希望别人对待你的方式来对待别人，全心全意地敬爱你的上帝。有这样一位老师全天候在身边教你，是多么幸福的一件事！但现在有一点要说明——她的学生们并不完美。这话讲得还算客气了。

[8]妈妈用她的爱帮我们渡过人生种种难关，她的爱始终如一、笃定且毫无保留，但她也很严厉。

她把这种教子之法叫作“仁慈的独裁”，但说实话，她的独裁并非总是仁慈的。

[9]等我们的孩子长大一点的时候，他们花更多时间去看望祖父母（外祖父母）。

只消一周，回到家的时候，他们就突然懂得在家里帮一把手了，也不打架了，简直成了乖孩子。

[10]我觉得这要归功于让孩子们深深忌惮的祖母训话，以及良好行为日渐强化养成了习惯。就算九十高龄，母亲也照样不失其威仪，如果孙辈、侄子侄女乃至子女有谁行事不妥，她会让他们感到害怕。

[11] There were no safe spaces10safe space（在大学校园内）被排斥、被边缘化的人群（特别是少数族裔人群、性少数人群等）聚集在一起创造的“安全空间”。or microaggressions11= micro-aggression微攻击，指（针对少数族裔或边缘人群）非常细微且不易觉察的攻击行为。allowed with Barbara Pierce Bush.

But in the end, every grandchild knew their Ganny loved them.

[12] We learned a lot more from our mom and our Ganny. We learned not to take ourselves too seriously.

We learned that humor is a joy that should be shared. Some of my greatest memories are participating in our family dinners when mom would get into it,most of the time with George W, as you might imagine, and having us all laughing to tears.

[13] We learned to strive to be genuine and authentic by the best role model in the world. Her authentic, plastic pearls121989年芭芭拉身着蓝色礼服、项戴三层仿真珠链出现在公众视野中，三层“塑料珍珠项链”迅速成为一种美国时尚，而戴着珠链的芭芭拉形象也就此深入人心。据这串珠链的设计师后来讲述，真品珠链价值高达20 万美元，而仿品价值只有600美元。.Her not coloring her hair—by the way,she was beautiful till the day she died.

[14] Her hugging of an HIV aids patient at a time when her own mother wouldn’t do it. Her standing by her man with a little rhyming poetry13美国第42任副总统沃尔特·蒙代尔（Walter Mondale）于1984年7月12日提名女性政治人物杰拉尔丁·费拉罗（Geraldine Ferraro）为民主党副总统候选人，而时任副总统的老布什也在谋求连任。当时，蒙代尔不断向里根总统强调费拉罗与其丈夫家世的富有，媒体利用这点调侃芭芭拉，芭芭拉则在愠怒之中轻率地用一个跟rich押韵的词形容费拉罗。后来，意识到言语有失，芭芭拉及时向费拉罗道歉澄清。因为这件事，芭芭拉被布什全家人戏称为“桂冠诗人”。in the

[11]对于芭芭拉·皮尔斯·布什夫人而言，没有“安全空间” ，也不允许“微攻击”。

但到头来，每个孙辈都知道她老人家对他们挚爱之深。

[12]我们从母亲也就是孩子的祖母身上学到很多东西，学会了不要太把自己当回事。

我们也学到了幽默之乐应与人分享这个道理。我回想起了好几次家庭聚餐上，母亲都会幽默一把，常常是和乔治·W一起，令全家人都笑到飙泪，这些是我最美好的回忆。

[13]我们学会努力去做实实在在的人，在这一方面母亲是世界上最好的榜样。她的珍珠是真正的塑料做的，她不染头发——顺便说一句，她直到去世那一天都是美丽的。

[14]她拥抱艾滋病病毒携带者，而那时连患者自己的母亲都不愿这么做。1984年大选，1984 election. In a thousand other ways,Barbara Pierce Bush was real and that’s why people admired her and loved her so.

[15] Finally, our family has had front row seat14have front-row seat本意是说在参与活动、看戏或其他表演的时候近距离亲历现场。这份悼词的作者杰布用此语意在强调家庭中父母的恩爱足以作为子孙的表率。for the most amazing love story.

Through a multitude of moves, from New Haven to Odessa to Ventura, to Bakers fi eld, to Compton, to Midland, to Houston, to DC, to New York, to DC, to Beijing, to DC, to Houston, to DC, back to Houston and Kennebunkport, their love was a constant in our lives.

[16] My dad is a phenomenal15phenomenal了不起的；非凡的。letter writer and he would write mom on their wedding anniversaries which totalled an amazing 73 years.

[17] Here’s one of them written on January 6, 1994.

Will you marry me? Oops, I forgot we did that 49 years ago. I was very happy on that day in 1945 but I am even happier today.

You have given me joy that few men know. You have made our boys into men by balling them out16ball out〈美口〉痛骂, 训斥。and then, right away, by loving them.

You’ve helped Doro be the sweetest,greatest daughter in the whole wide她用一首押韵的小诗支持自己的丈夫。不管做什么事，芭芭拉·皮尔斯·布什都是那样真实，这就是人们敬爱她的原因。

[15]最终，我们这个家见证了最伟大的爱情奇迹。

经历了许多次搬家，从纽哈芬、奥德萨到温杜拉，到贝克斯菲尔德，到康普顿，到米德兰，到休斯顿，到华盛顿，到纽约，到华盛顿，到北京，到华盛顿，到休斯顿，到华盛顿，再回到休斯顿与肯尼帮克港。不管辗转到哪里，父母之间的爱恒久不变。

[16]我父亲擅长写信是出了名的，每逢结婚纪念日，他都会给母亲写信一封，七十三载竟不辍一年。

[17]下面一封信写于1994年1月6日：

你愿意嫁给我么？哎呀，我都忘了，我们结婚49年了。1945年的今天，我很幸福，但今天我比那时还要幸福。

无人知晓你到底赋予了我多少快乐。你严爱有加，把我们的儿子们从男孩教养成为男人。

你将朵拉培养成为全世界world.

I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world but even that cannot hold a candle to17cannot hold a candle to远不如，不能与……相比。being Barbara’s husband.

Mom used to tell me, “Now, George,don’t walk ahead.” Little did she know I was only trying to keep up, keep up with Barbara Pierce from Rye, New York.

I love you.

[18] The last time mom went into the hospital, I think Dad got sick on purpose so that he could be with her.

[19] That’s my theory at least cause literally a day later he showed up with an illness. He came into her room when she was sleeping and held her hand. His hair was standing straight up, he had on a mask to improve his breathing, he was wearing a hospital gown—in other words, he looked like hell.

[20] Mom opened her eyes and said,“My God George, you are devastatingly handsome!”

Every nurse, doctor, staffer had to run to the hallway because they all started crying.

[21] I hope you can see why we think our mom and our dad are teachers and models for our entire family and for many others.

[22] Finally, the last time I was with her, I asked her about dying. Was she ready to go? Was she sad? Without最善良、最了不起的女儿。

也许我已经爬上了或许世界上最高的一座山峰，但即便如此，也远不及做你的丈夫。

我妈妈跟我讲过：“好了，乔治，不要走在前面。”她根本不知道的是，我只不过是尽力跟上纽约里埃的芭芭拉 ·皮尔斯罢了。

我爱你。

[18]母亲最后一次住院，我感到爸爸是为了和妈妈在一起才故意生病的。

[19]至少我是这样看的，因为妈妈刚进医院一天，爸爸也紧跟着病倒了。母亲睡熟时，他来到母亲的病房，紧握她的手。此时的爸爸，头发竖起，因呼吸困难戴着氧气面罩，穿着病号服，可以说他看起来糟透了。

[20]母亲一睁开双眼就说道，“我的天哪，乔治，你简直帅爆了！”

见到此情此景，在场护士、医生、护工都跑到走廊上偷偷抹泪。

[21]希望至此大家能明白为什么我们会认为母亲和父亲是我们整个家族和许多其他家庭的导师与榜样。

[22]我最后一次陪在母missing a beat, she said, “Jeb, I believe in Jesus and he is my savior.

“I don’t want to leave your dad but I know I will be in a beautiful place.”

[23] Mom, we look forward to being with you and Robin and all of God’s children.

We love you. ■亲身边时，我问她对离开这个世界的想法——是不是准备好了？是不是很伤心？她毫不迟疑地脱口而出，“杰布，我信仰耶稣，他是我的救世主。”

“可我不想离开你的父亲，但我知道我会到一个很美的地方去。”

[23]妈妈，我们期待和你、罗宾以及所有上帝之子相会的那一天。

我们爱你！ □