While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland，Oregon, I had one of those life-changing experiences that you hear other people talk about -- the kind that sneaks¹ up on you unexpectedly. This one occurred a mere² two feet away from me.

Straining to locate my friend among the passengers deplaning through the jet way, I noticed a man coming toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.

First he motioned to his youngest son (maybe six years old) as he laid down his bags. They gave each other a long, loving hug. As they separated enough to look in each other's face, I heard the father say, "It's so good to see you, son. I missed you so much!"

His son smiled somewhat shyly, averted³ his eyes and replied softly, "Me, too, Dad!"

Then the man stood up, gazed in the eyes of his oldest son (maybe nine or ten) and while cupping his son's face in his hands said, "You're already quite the young man. I love you very much.

Zach!" They too hugged a most loving, tender hug.

While this was happening, a baby girl (perhaps one or one-and-a-half) was squirming excitedly in her mother's arms, never once taking her little eyes off the wonderful sight of her returning father.

The man said, "Hi, baby girl!" as he gently took the child from her mother. He quickly kissed her face all over and then held her close to his chest while rocking her from side to side. The little girl instantly relaxed and simply laid her head on his shoulder, motionless in pure contentment.

After several moments, he handed his daughter to his oldest son and declared, "I've saved the best for last!" and proceeded to give his wife the longest, most passionate⁴ kiss I ever remember seeing.

He gazed into her eyes for several seconds and then silently mouthed, "I love you so much!" They stared at each other's eyes, beaming big smiles at one another, while holding both hands.

For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn't possibly be. I puzzled about it for a moment then realized how totally engrossed⁵ I was in the wonderful display of unconditional⁶ love not more than an arm's length away from me. I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if I was invading something sacred, but was amazed to hear my own voice nervously⁷ ask, "Wow! How long have you two been married? '.

"Been together fourteen years total, married twelve of those." he replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife's face. "

Well then, how long have you been away?" I asked. The man finally turned and looked at me, still beaming his joyous⁸ smile. "Two whole days!"

Two days? I was stunned⁹. By the intensity¹⁰ of the greeting, I had assumed he'd been gone for at least several weeks -- if not months. I know my expression betrayed me.

I said almost offhandedly¹¹, hoping to end my intrusion with some semblance¹² of grace land to get back to searching for my friend), "I hope my marriage is still that passionate after twelve years!"

The man suddenly stopped smiling.

He looked me straight in the eye, and with forcefulness that burned right into my soul, he told me something that left me a different person. He told me, "Don't hope, friend... decide!" Then he flashed me his wonderful smile again, shook my hand and said, "God bless!"

With that, he and his family turned and strode away together.

I was still watching that exceptional man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked,

"What' cha looking at?"

Without hesitating, and with a curious sense of certainty, replied, "My future!"

心动不如行动

在俄勒冈州波特兰市机场等人时发生的一件事情改变了我的一生，你可能只是听人说过这种事情，属于不经意悄然发生的那种。

它的发生离我仅2英尺之遥。

在我努力地从下机走廊走下来的乘客中搜寻我的朋友时，我看到了一个拎着两个轻提包的男人正向我走来，他就在我身边停了下来，和他的家人互相问候。

他放下提包，先向他的小儿子（6岁的样子）伸出了双臂，来了一个长长的亲密的拥抱。然后他们松开拥抱注视着对方的面容，我听见父亲说： “儿子，见到你真是太好了。我想死你了！”他的儿子笑颜含羞，目光游移，小声地答道： “我也是，爸爸！”

然后男人站起来，注视着大儿子（9、10岁的样子）的眼睛，将儿子的脸捧在手里说： “你已经是个小男子汉了，我非常爱你，扎克！”他们也来了一个爱意融融的温柔拥抱。

而此时一个女婴（大约1岁或1岁半）在妈妈的怀抱中兴奋地扭动着，小眼睛一刻也未离开过归来的父亲，似乎怎么也看不够。

男人轻轻地从她母亲那里接过小女孩说： “你好啊，小姑娘！”他飞快地将她的小脸吻了个遍，然后抱紧她轻轻地摇晃。小女孩立刻放松了，将头靠在他的胳膊上，心满意足地一动不动了。

过了一会儿，他将女儿交给大儿子，高声道： “我要将最好的部分留给最后的人！”然后走过去给了他妻子一个我印象中见过最长最热烈的吻。他注视着她的双眼几秒钟，然后柔声道： “我非常爱你！”他们手握着手，四目相对，朝着对方绽出了舒心的笑容。

在某一瞬间我竟误会他们为新婚夫妇了，但是看他们孩子的年龄我也知道他们不可能是。我沉疑了片刻，然后才意识到，这相距不过一臂之遥的、无条件之爱的精彩展示竟把我的魂都勾走了。我突然觉得不安，仿佛闯入了一片神圣的领地似的，但我却惊讶地听到自己紧张的声音问道： “呀！你们俩结婚多长时间了？”

“在一起总共14年，结婚12年了。”他回答道，目光却未离开他爱妻的脸庞。 “那么，你外出有多久了？”我问。那个男人终于转过来看着我，仍然快乐地微笑着： “整整两天！”

两天？我惊呆了。从他们见面的激动场面来看，我以为他离开没有几个月至少也有几个星期了。我知道我的表情出卖了我。

我只希望能带着几分优雅结束这样的打扰（回去找我的朋友）。于是不假思索地道： “我真希望我的婚姻在12年以后也能这样热情依旧！”

那个男人突然停止了微笑。

他直视我的眼睛，说了一句力有千钧的话，在我脑海里留下了深深的烙印，并改变了我的一生。他告诉我： “不要希望，朋友……要下决心！”

然后他又朝我露出了那迷人的微笑，握着我的手说： “愿上帝保佑你！”

说完，他和他的家人一起转身大步离开了。我目送着那个不寻常的男人和他特别的一家人走出我的视线。正在这时，我的朋友走到我跟前问道： “你在看什么？”

我坚定不移、毫不犹豫地回答道： “我的未来！”