The | engraved in the deepest recesses of life

Text/Wang Youming (Hebei)

"Pear blossoms are pale white willows are deep green, and flowers are full of flowers when the willows fly." My birthday is in the middle of a time when spring is getting darker and spring is getting stronger.

As the saying goes: "The birthday of the child, the bitter day of the mother." "For my birthday, my mother always remembers it. When I was a child, life was very difficult, and the problem of food and clothing could not be solved, but every year on my birthday, my mother always tried to find a way to get something delicious. Or a steaming bowl of white water noodle soup, or two freshly boiled eggs, or a white noodle mixed with cornmeal flapjacks, or a bowl of wild vegetable dumplings with sweet potato bread. As long as my mother watched me eat sweetly, her face would overflow with a happy and bright smile. When I swallowed the warmth of this world with tears in my eyes, I truly felt that in my mother's branches, even the most difficult years would shine. That kind of strong maternal love makes me unforgettable.

When I grew up, I left my hometown as a soldier. Every year, a few days before my birthday, I always receive a letter from my mother-in-law, telling me not to forget my birthday. Reading my mother's letter, I felt as if I was bathed in a sea of happiness and sweetness, and there was a warm current surging around me.

In March, when I occasionally took family leave, I only cared about going to relatives and friends, and I forgot my birthday early. But the mother did not forget, before dawn she got up, made a bowl of poached egg noodles for me, and tiptoed a pair of crippled little feet, turned upside down to the bed, smiled and said: "Son, this is your birthday, eat this bowl of noodles, it will increase life." "Looking at my mother's full head of white hair and old face, I am already in tears!"

However, as careless, I did not remember my mother's birthday.

One day in the late autumn of that year, I hosted a grand family dinner to celebrate my daughter's 18th birthday. During the banquet, my daughter suddenly asked me: "Dad, when is Grandma's birthday?" I blushed and said with a thick neck, "Let me think, let me think." ”

So, as quickly as possible, I mobilized all the memory nerves and searched for my mother's birthday card. In the warehouse that can be remembered, there are the birthday cards of the wife, the birthday cards of the daughter, and the birthday cards of the best friends, but the birthday cards of the mother cannot be found.

Seeing that I didn't answer for a while, the mischievous daughter smiled and said, "Daddy, don't think about it, you must have forgotten it." "I was overwhelmed.

In addition to the embarrassment, I felt a deep sense of guilt: "As a son, how can you forget your mother's birthday?" "Endless regret is like a fiery fire, burning in my heart socket, burning the tip of my heart, the pain is unbearable, the wine glass in my hand is also like a sharp blade cutting through my heart."

Late that night, I was lying in bed, tossing and turning, thinking a lot. Although, the phenomenon of not knowing the birthday of the father is relatively common; although, some people are self-relieved and say that not remembering the birthday of the father does not mean filial piety, but only a regret. But I think that whether or not you can remember your father's birthday is a consideration of the filial piety of your children, a kind of test. Keeping in mind the birthday of the father," celebrating the birthday of the father when it is convenient, and sending a blessing to the father when it is inconvenient is a way for the children to fulfill their filial piety, an opportunity to express love, and a carrier for condensing family affection. After all, love is an energy. Learning to care for daddy from the details is not only the responsibility of children, but also a demonstration for their children.

Thinking of this, I told myself over and over again in my heart: I must find out my mother's birthday and engrave it in the deepest part of my life.

One golden day, I took a vacation to return to my elderly and frail mother. At night, my mother and I sat under the locust tree in the courtyard, looking up at the moon shadow and starry sky, while chatting about childhood fun. I opened my mouth several times to ask if my mother's birthday was a few months and days, but I swallowed the words again. I'm afraid my mother will be sad!

In the middle of the night, the moon is far to the west, the stars are full of sky, the moon's shadow is shaky, the dew floats on the ground, and it is cool. I persuaded my mother to go back to the house, but she insisted on sitting for a while. I hurried into the house and went to get clothes for my mother. Inadvertently, I found an ID card inserted in the corner of the frame on the wall, and I took it off to see that it was a mother's. The date of birth column clearly reads: July 20, 1915.

It didn't take any effort, and I was overjoyed. In order to confirm the authenticity of my mother's birthday, I took my ID card and whispered: "Mother, your birthday written on this is July 20, right?" The mother said affirmatively: "Yes, there can be no mistake." "I immediately took this day worth remembering in my heart and engraved it in the deepest recesses of my life. I hurried into the house again to look at the calendar, ah, the day after tomorrow is my mother's birthday.

The opportunity was rare, so I called my younger brother Yuzawa to discuss how to celebrate my mother's birthday well. After the mother knew, she strongly objected: "Today's life is so good, every day white noodles are eaten, meat is continuous, better than the birthday before, don't spend money and laborious toss, there is no need for this." "My mother's fate was difficult to violate, so I had to give up the idea of feasting on my relatives and friends." I just went to the county town to buy a box of birthday cakes, cut a few pounds of fatty pork (my mother's favorite), bought some fresh seasonal vegetables, and bought a sumptuous family feast. The whole family gathered together, lit colorful birthday candles, clapped their hands and sang the song "Happy Birthday to You", and took turns to raise a glass to wish the mother health and longevity.

Looking at this plain, but lively scene, the mother shed tears of joy, and I also shed tears. For the first time in so many years, my mother celebrated her birthday so "solemnly".

Since that day, I have firmly engraved my mother's birthday in the deepest part of my life. Every year on the 20th day of the lunar calendar, far away from my hometown, I either make a phone call home and send a heartfelt blessing, or let my little brother buy a gift to express a piece of respect for my mother.

Today, although my mother has been dead for nineteen years, every year on her birthday, I will put snacks, fruits and melon seeds in front of her portrait to celebrate her birthday...

About author:Wang Youming, a native of Linxi, Hebei. He is a member of the Chinese Prose Literature Association, a member of the Shanxi Writers Association, a director of the Tianjin Prose Literature Research Association, an honorary vice chairman of the Linfen Writers Association, an honorary president of the Linxi County Prose Literature Association, and a contracted writer of Henan Literature and Oriental Prose Magazine. He has published 11 monographs, including 3 collections of essays, "Years Like Songs", "The Heart Has An Appointment", and "Time Imprint", and won the "Five Ones Project" Excellent Work Award for the Construction of Spiritual Civilization in Linfen City. He has won the "Chinese Contemporary Prose Award", one of the highest honors in China, and was listed in the 2009 (second half) Chinese Prose Ranking of the China Prose Annual Conference and the 2021 Outstanding Writers List of Southern Literature. Some essays have been selected as chinese language papers for the mock examination of the academic level of junior high school graduates, "Contemporary Composition", an excellent learning guide for primary and secondary school students, and extracurricular books for children.

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