After 21 years of marriage, I discovered a new way of keeping alive the spark of love. I started to go out with another woman. It was really my wife's idea.
结婚21年后，我发现了保持爱之火花的一种新方法。我开始与另一个女人出去约会。其实这还是我妻子的主意呢。
"I know that you love her," she said one day, taking me by surprise. "But I love YOU," I protested. "I know, but you also love her."
“我知道你爱她，”有一天她对我说，这令我感到惊奇。“但我也爱你，”我声明。“我知道，不过，你也爱她。”
The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my mother, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. "What's wrong, are you well?" she asked. My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. "I thought that it would be pleasant to pass some time with you," I responded. "Just the two of us." She thought about it for a moment, then said, "I would like that very much."
我妻子想让我去拜访的另一个女人就是我的妈妈，她守寡19年了，但由于我的工作需要以及有三个孩子要抚养，我很少有机会去看望她。那天晚上，我打电话约她吃饭看电影。“出什么事了？你还好吧？”她问。我妈妈是那种认为深夜电话或出其不意的邀请代表坏消息征兆的女人。“我觉得与您共度一段时间将是一件愉快的事，”我这样回答。“就我们两个人。”她想了一想，便说：“其实我很想这样。”
That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's. "I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed," she said, as she got into the car. "They can't wait to hear about our meeting."
