When my parents separated in 1954 I was only 2 years old and I never saw my father again.

1954年，我的父母离婚了，那时我才两岁，从那之后，我就再也没见过我的父亲。

My mother and her family kept information about my father and his family a secret from me for over half a century.

在将近一个世纪的时间里，我的母亲，还有我母亲娘家的亲戚一直对我守口如瓶，他们闭口不提我的父亲，还有我父亲这边的亲人。

In 2010 I began to search for my father through Ancestry¹.Com.

2010年，我开始通过Ancestry.Com网站寻找我父亲的相关信息。

However I learned he had died of cancer on August 6, 1999 in a hospital in Dallas, Texas.

没有想到，我得到的是一个噩耗。我父亲早已在1999年8月6日去世，在德克萨斯州达拉斯市的一家医院里，死因是癌症。

When I got my father's death certificate the medical examiner told me because my father had no relatives around the city buried him in a body bag in a unmarked grave in an old cemetery².

我终于拿到了父亲的死亡证明时，当时的法医告诉我，由于我父亲在当地没有任何家属，医院只能把他埋葬在一个废旧的墓地里，墓碑上没有名字，遗骸入殓于廉价的裹尸袋之中。

I knew my father served in WW2 so I decided³ to work on getting his remains⁴ brought back to my state to be buried in our national cemetery.

我知道父亲是二战老兵，我决定想尽一切办法，把父亲的遗骸带回我所在的州，入葬在国家公墓。

From 2011 to 2017 I kept working on lowering my debt from a divorce and increase my credit score so someday I could get a personal loan.

后来我离婚了，从2011年到2017年，六年的时间里，我一直设法降低自己由于离婚所必须支付的债务，并提升我的个人信用度，以冀某天我能获得一笔个人贷款，完成我让父亲入土在国家公墓的心愿。

That certificate of military service proved my father served 43 months in WW2 in the U.S.A. Army Air Force fighting the Nazi's.

军方出具了一份证明，证明我父亲在二战期间服役于美国空军，与纳粹战斗了43个月之久。

I still did not have the money though.

但我还是出不起巨额的转葬费。

In July of 2018 a bank approved a $10,000 personal loan so I had a funeral director apply for a permit to exhume⁵ my father.

2018年7月，银行批准了我的个人贷款，我获得了1万美元的贷款，我联系了一位丧葬承办人，请他代理申请父亲的转葬事宜。

After 4 months of waiting I asked Senator Brown for help again in November.

经过4个月的漫长等待，在11月，我不得不再次请求一位姓Brown的议员伸出援手。

Six days after he contacted Texas officials a permit was granted.

他为我跟德克萨斯州政府官员进行了交涉，6天后，转葬事宜获得了批准。

On July, 9, 2019 a airplane will land at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport where I will be finally reunited with my father and touch his metal casket and the missing piece of my heart will be restored.

明年7月9日，一架飞机将会把我父亲的遗骸送到克里夫兰霍普金斯国际机场，到那时，我们父子就终于可以重聚了，我可以触碰到他的金属棺材，我心里的空洞终于可以填满了。

On January 10, 2019 the Ohio Patriot⁶ Guard Riders will escort my father's hearse through my home town to be buried with honors in our states National cemetery and one day in January Senator Brown will have a American Flag flown over our Nation's Capital to honor my father.

2019年1月10日，俄亥俄州爱国者卫队骑手将护卫着父亲的灵柩穿过我所在的城市，将遗体礼葬在国家公墓。同一个月，议员Brown先生将带着一面美国国旗飞跃首都上空，向我的父亲致敬。

If you never give up one day your dream will become reality.

只要坚持不放弃，总有一天，你的愿望会变成现实。