My teen-age daughter was preparing to return home after having visited her grandparents for a few weeks one summer. Her grandfather gave her 12 post cards .

"Here, write us a few lines every month," he said.

Months passed and the cards remained unused-that is until the day this letter arrived:

"Dear Jennifer,

Life is a series¹ of stages.

As a child, I looked forward to becoming a teenager-that happened.

As a teen-ager ,I looked forward to becoming a young man-that happened.

As a young man, I looked forward to meeting a young woman, in love and becoming a married² man-that happened.

As a married man, I looked forward to becoming a father-that happened.

As a father, I looked forward to becoming a grandfather to beautiful ,intelligent³ grandchildren-that happened.

Then I looked forward to the day they would learn to write-that hasn't happened yet.

Yours Sincerely⁴"

十二张卡片

一个夏天，我十多岁的女儿在她祖父母家过了几周。她准备回家时，祖父给了她十二张卡片。

“每月给我们来个短信，”他说。

几个月过去了，可卡片一直放在那儿没用----直到有一天来了这样一封信：

“亲爱的詹妮芙：

生活是一系列阶段组成的。

还是个孩子的时候，我期待着成为一个青少年----我如愿以偿了。

还是个年轻人的时候，我期待着遇到一个年轻的女人，恋爱、结婚----我如愿以偿了。

结了婚，我便期待着成为一个父亲----我如愿以偿了。

作为父亲，我期待着成为一个祖父，有漂亮、聪明的孙儿孙女----我也如愿以偿了。

接着，我期待着有一天他们能给我写信----我却还没有如愿以偿。