小布什葬礼致辞，深情追忆“最棒父亲”！

I once heard it said of man that the idea is to die young as late as possible. At age 85, a favorite pastime of George H.W. Bush was firing up his boat, the Fidelity, and opening up the three 300 horsepower engines to fly, joyfully fly across the Atlantic with the Secret Service boats straining to keep up.

有人说过，在年轻的时候离开人世也挺好，当然，这件事发生的越晚越好。我父亲85岁的时候，他最喜欢做的事就是开快船，他的船叫“忠心号”，他开足300马力，快得像飞一样，在大西洋上驰骋，留下保安船只在后面拼命追赶。

At age 90, George H.W. Bush parachuted out of an aircraft and landed on the grounds of St. Anne's by the Sea in Kennebunkport, Maine, the church where his mom was married and where he worshipped often. Mother liked to say he chose the location just in case the chute didn't open. In his 90s, he took great delight when his closest pal, James A. Baker, smuggled a bottle of Grey Goose vodka into his hospital room. Apparently it paired well with the steak Baker had delivered from Morton's.

在他90岁的时候，我父亲依然从飞机中跳伞而出，降落点是缅因Kennebunkport镇海边的圣安妮教堂，我的祖母就在这个地方举行的婚礼，这也是我父亲经常去礼拜的地方。母亲说，父亲特意选择了这个地方降落，就是为了应对伞包万一打不开的意外。90岁了，有一天父亲正在住院，他的老朋友，前国务卿贝克，偷偷给他带进来一瓶灰鹅牌伏特加，他高兴坏了。这酒配上贝克从默顿牛排店买来的外卖，真是棒极了。

To his very last days, dad's life was instructive. As he aged he taught us how to grow with dignity, humor and kindness. When the good lord finally called, how to meet him with courage and with the joy of the promise of what lies ahead.

即便是在他最后的日子，父亲的生命也有启迪。他一边老去，一边教会我们如何带着尊严，幽默和善良而老去。当慈爱的上帝最终来叩门的时候，怎样带着勇气，带着对天国的期盼和喜乐，去迎接死亡的来临。

One reason dad knew how to die young is that he almost did it, twice. When he was a teenager, a staph infection nearly took his life. A few years later he was alone in the Pacific on a life raft, praying that his rescuers would find him before the enemy did. God answered those prayers. It turned out he had other plans for George H.W. Bush. For dad's part, I think those brushes with death made him cherish the gift of life, and he vowed to live every day to the fullest.

我父亲知道如何在“年轻”时死亡，因为他几乎曾经历过两次。十几岁的时候，一个葡萄球菌感染几乎要了他的命。几年后，他躺在一个救生筏里在太平洋上飘荡，一边祷告希望救生部队能先于敌人找到他。显然上帝听到了他的祷告，因为上帝给父亲的命运做了其他的安排。从我父亲的角度，这些濒死的经历让他更加珍惜生命的可贵，他发誓要把每一天活到极致。

……

受字数限制，完整版演讲稿获取方式：

关注微信公众号【英语布丁】
然后在公众号后台私信“演讲”二字，
即可收到本专辑演讲稿的下载链接。