介绍： 这是薄薄的一本书，只有两百多页，作者Nicholas Sparks用不大的词汇量勾勒出一个动人的爱情故事和迷人的美国南部风光。

多年以前，诺亚和艾丽，这对身份悬殊却堕入爱河的恋人，因艾丽家人的阻挠而使得这段恋情戛然而止。失望的诺亚选择参军，而艾丽也开始了新的生活。二战结束后，他们重新相遇，又该如何面对这份曾经的感情......这一...

介绍： 这是薄薄的一本书，只有两百多页，作者Nicholas Sparks用不大的词汇量勾勒出一个动人的爱情故事和迷人的美国南部风光。

多年以前，诺亚和艾丽，这对身份悬殊却堕入爱河的恋人，因艾丽家人的阻挠而使得这段恋情戛然而止。失望的诺亚选择参军，而艾丽也开始了新的生活。二战结束后，他们重新相遇，又该如何面对这份曾经的感情......这一切都由一位老先生从笔记本里娓娓道出。

【Chapter 12：Crossroads】

The story ends there, so I close the notebook, remove my glasses, and wipe my eyes. They are tired and bloodshot, but they have not failed me so far. They will soon, I am sure. Neither they nor I can go on forever. I look to her now that I have finished, but she does not look back. Instead she is staring out the window at the courtyard, where friends and family meet.

My eyes follow hers, and we watch it together. In all these years the daily pattern has not changed. Every morning, an hour after breakfast, they begin to arrive. Young adults, alone or with family, come to visit those who live here. They bring photographs and gifts and either sit on the benches or stroll along the tree‐lined paths designed to give a sense of nature. Some will stay for the day, but most leave after a few hours, and when they do, I always feel sadness for those they've left behind.

I wonder sometimes what my friends think as they see their loved ones driving off, but I know it's not my business. And I do not ever ask them because I've learned that we're all entitled to have our secrets. But soon, I will tell you some of mine.

I place the notebook and magnifier on the table beside me, feeling the ache in my bones as I do so, and I realize once again how cold my body is. Even reading in the morning sun does nothing to help it. This does not surprise me anymore, though, for my body makes its own rules these days.

I'm not completely unfortunate, however. The people who work here know me and my faults and do their best to make me more comfortable. They have left me hot tea on the end table, and I reach for it with both hands. It is an effort to pour a cup, but I do so because the tea is needed to warm me and I think the exertion will keep me from completely rusting away. But I am rusted now, no doubt about it. Rusted as a junked car twenty years in the Everglades.

I have read to her this morning, as I do every morning, because it is something I must do. Not for duty‐‐although I suppose a case could be made for this‐‐but for another, more romantic, reason. I wish I could explain it more fully right now, but it's still early, and talking about romance isn't really possible before lunch anymore, at least not for me. Besides, I have no idea how it's going to turn out, and to be honest, I'd rather not get my hopes up.

We spend each and every day together now, but our nights are spent alone. The doctors tell me that I'm not allowed to see her after dark. I understand the reasons completely, and though I agree with them, I sometimes break the rules. Late at night when my mood is right, I will sneak from my room and go to hers and watch her while she sleeps.

.....

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