“Where’s Adam’s tackle?” my sister said.
“Sorry,” Dad replied, sheepishly. I learned forward to see the next big play…and the next and the next. Not one was on tape. Not even my sack! Every time, just as I was about to make a play, the camera would begin filming alternating bits of grass and parts of bleachers, and the audio of my dad’s loud cheering cutting in and out. “All right, Adam!” I could hear my dad yell. “That’s my boy! That’s my son!”
The tape ended and Dad was quiet. “I’m sorry, Adam,” he said, finally. That’s when it dawned on me. I didn’t have any of my football glory caught on tape—I had something better. A perfect record of Dad’s cheers, his excitement, his uncontainable joy in watching me play. His pride in me.
“I can’t believe I didn’t get anything on tape,” Dad said.
I smiled. “Yes, you did,” I said, and hugged him hard.
上中学的时候，我是校橄榄球队的主力。虽然我不是明星，但在高年级阶段，以我的水平足够可以担当防守或者进攻。四年残酷的赛前集训生活，被汗水浸透的肩膀护垫，还有那一桶桶黑色眼部涂料都在我最后的决战之后宣告结束。我强烈要求爸爸带上摄影机，我想要爸爸帮我记录下我橄榄球生涯的最后一场比赛，以后可以给我的孩子们看看。
爸爸坚持要我打前锋。我喜欢在朋友的加油声中投球，但其实我并不觉得自己真的具备那些前锋所具有的能力。“我不是橄榄球手，”我对爸爸说。
“如果你不尝试，你永远都不会知道自己到底可以做什么，”爸爸告诉我。于是，我接受了爸爸的意见。我还记得在第二年赛季中当我获得“最佳进步球员奖”时爸爸脸上洋溢着多么骄傲的笑容，他似乎比我获得“最有价值球员”还要感到自豪。当我收到校队的通知时，爸爸给我了一个热烈的拥抱。从那以后，只要我出场的比赛，爸爸从不曾错过，他总会在那里为我呐喊助威。
在开球前，我向爸爸妈妈挥了挥手，随即便戴上了比赛用的防护面罩。对方先发球。我半蹲在那里，随时准备接应猛烈的攻球。在我竭力阻截对方进攻的球员时，肩膀护垫吱吱作响。我抓住对方球员的运动衫并把他摔倒在草地上。看台上爆发出一阵阵热烈的欢呼声。我确信爸爸已经将这精彩的一刻拍了下来。我正了正头盔，朝看台望去。就在那里，爸爸手拿着摄影机，欣喜若狂地为我欢呼。
接下来我担任的角色是后卫，我像陀螺般旋转着突破对方的阵线，以便袭击对方的四分卫。后来我又阻截住了其他几个从后方袭击的球员。太棒了！我最后的比赛把我的球技提高了一个层次。几乎我每次走下球场，教练都会为我的又一次精彩表演向我祝贺。比赛结束时，我一共有七次阻截和一次抢夺。这是我有史以来在球场上最为出色的表现。这也为我的橄榄球生涯画上了完美的句点。我一下子扑到爸爸的怀里。虽然我浑身被汗水浸透，而且散发着难闻的气味，可是爸爸并不在乎，紧紧地拥抱着我。
我迫不及待地想要看录影带，我想再次回味体验每一个激动人心的时刻。一进家门，我便赶紧把录影带取出来并放进录像机。爸爸、妈妈、姐姐和我一起坐在客厅里的大屏幕电视前，我把灯调暗，并按下了播放键。
录像开始了。比赛开始前，两侧的队员列队等候，然后后边的球员争得了手递手传球的资格，一路向终点线跑去，我伸出手去接球，这时，屏幕上出现了云朵。我能听到爸爸在高声呼喊：“加油，亚当。”与此同时，屏幕上出现了一片上下摇动的天空。
“亚当在哪里阻截？”姐姐问道。
“很抱歉，”爸爸难为情地说。我努力想找到下一场重要的比赛??还有之后的很多场比赛。可是录影带上空空如也，甚至连我的抢夺酷姿也没有。每当我正要冲锋陷阵的时候，镜头里就会交替地出现星星点点的草地和一部分看台，还有爸爸洪亮的呐喊声时不时地从喇叭中传出来。“好的，亚当！”我能听到爸爸的喊声。“这才是男子汉，这才是我的好儿子！”
录像结束了，爸爸沉默不语。最后，他开口了：“我真的很抱歉，亚当。”就在那时，我猛然间明白了。虽然我在球场上英姿飒爽的帅气没有留在录影带上，但是我有更好的回忆——一盘载满爸爸为我欢呼雀跃的录影带，上面记录了他因看我的球赛而激动万分，因看我的球赛而情不自禁地喜形于色的情形。爸爸一直以我为荣。
“我真的无法相信自己什么也没拍到，”爸爸懊悔地说。
我微笑着说：“不，爸爸，您拍到了。”接着我们紧紧相拥在一起。
Marvel is everywhere
奇迹无处不在
Back during the Vietnam war, when I was stationed in Thailand, I met a beautiful Thai wom an named Surapun. We fell in love and got married soon after. When my wife learned, after a trip to a doctor, that she couldn’t have children, we both prayed that somehow things would be changed , that we would be able to have a family of our own.
My tour ended, and I went back to the United States, to my assignment1 in Nevada. I started the huge amount of immigration2 paperwork necessary for Surapun to join me back in the States.
A short time later I received a letter from Surapun. She was pregnant! The doctor had been wrong. We were ecstatic. I couldn’t wait till she joined me. I rushed the paperwork to her for her signature.
