长姐如友似母：姐姐买给我的那双新鞋

一双新鞋子

Anne is six years older than me. Growing up, we were very poor, and my mother worked evenings at a factory in a small mid-western town. Not seeing my mother much, Anne took over much of the maternal support, and she was awarded the authority to give me and my younger sister permission to do things. Actually, going to Anne was much better than going to a parent as she could award permission, but never had an urge to punish us when we broke the rules. Therefore, we were a bit more willing to confess our activities to Anne and sometimes benefited from her sisterly advice. During those turbulent teenage years, Anne was always there for me, not only as a big sister, but as a mother and my best friend.

安妮比我大六岁。从小，我们家很穷，妈妈每晚都要在一座中西部小镇上的一家工厂里上班。由于很少见到妈妈，安妮承担了妈妈的大部分责任。她也获得了许可，有权决定是否允许我和妹妹去做一些事情。实际上，去找安妮可比去找爸爸妈妈强多了，因为她能答应我们的请求，但在我们违反规定时却从不想责罚我们。因此，我们更愿意向安妮坦承我们的所作所为，并且有时还会得益于她从姐姐的角度所给出的建议。在那段躁动的少年岁月中，安妮总是陪伴着我，不仅当我的大姐，还扮演着我的妈妈和挚友的角色。

When I was seventeen and had no money, I thought my only chance of going to college was if I could win a scholarship. I had an important interview for such an award. Anne at that time was struggling, surviving on a part-time job as she put herself through the local community college after serving in the army. I told her of my interview, that General Motors was sending me a bus ticket, and I would get to visit the city for my scholarship interview. It would be the first time I ever saw a city. I was excited about the adventure and asked her advice on what to wear. I showed her my best outfit and how I planned to be careful about how I sat so that the hole in the bottom of my shoe would not be seen, but I wasn't sure what I would do if it rained. I showed her how I would stand with my arm slightly in front of me to hide the blemish from my factory—second pants from the farmers' market . My best blouse was a find at a yard sale , slightly faded but still pretty.

我17岁时家里依然贫穷，我觉得我上大学的唯一机会就看自己能否拿到一笔奖学金。为了这笔奖学金，我要去参加一场很重要的面试。那时候，安妮的日子过得很艰难，服完兵役后，她靠一份兼职来供自己读本地的社区大学。我把面试的事告诉了她：通用汽车公司会给我寄一张车票，这样我就能进城去参加奖学金的面试了。这将是我第一次去大城市见世面。我对这次“探险”兴奋不已，并请安妮对我的着装提提建议。我给她看了我最好的衣服，