《外刊精读》那些本该早点问父母的问题

The Questions You Wish You Had Asked Your Parents 那些本该早点问父母的问题 By Clare Ansberry As significant as parents are in life, their adult children often don’t know what shaped them and what they were like before they became mom and dad. They may be curious about their parents’ background and choices, but don’t think to ask questions or know how to begin. They are busy with raising their families and jobs or live hundreds of miles away. Other topics—children, school, work—can seem more pressing. 父母在孩子的生活中扮演着重要角色，然而，成年子女往往不知道父母的性格是如何塑造的，也不知道父母年轻时是什么样子。他们可能对父母的背景和所做的选择感到好奇，但并没想过去询问父母，或者无从问起。他们忙着工作和养家糊口，或者住在离父母几百英里远的地方，诸如养娃、教育、工作等话题似乎显得更为迫切。 Parents themselves aren’t always forthcoming, telling only the happy stories and filtering out painful ones. Some don’t think their lives are all that interesting. 父母自己也不总是愿意倾诉，他们更愿意分享一些愉快的而不是伤心的往事，还有些父母觉得自己的人生没那么有趣。 Yet today, for some people, that is starting to change. There’s a growing interest in under-standing our parents’ lives. Part of it is generational: Younger people are more transparent and used to telling the story of their own lives, often online for many to see, and expect it from others. 而如今，对一些人来说，这种情况正在发生转变。子女越来越有兴趣了解父母的人生。这一定程度上是由这代人的特点决定的：年轻一代更坦率，更愿意讲述自己的人生故事，并放到网上让更多人看到；同样地，他们也希望看到别人的故事。 According to a recent survey of 990 adults by StoryTerrace, one in five don’t know any-thing about their parents before they became parents, and 45% learn more about their parents from discovering photos and family possessions than direct conversations with them. StoryTerrace公司最近对990名成年人进行了一项调查，结果显示，五分之一的受访者对父亲和母亲在为人父母之前的经历一无所知；45%的人在整理照片和家庭财物时，才了解到更多关于父母的信息，而非通过与父母直接交谈。 Yet relationships with parents, regardless of how complicated, are the ones a person takes through life, says David Isay, who founded StoryCorps. StoryCorps创始人大卫·伊赛说，无论一个人与父母的关系多么复杂，亲子关系都是人生中无法绕过的话题。 Mr. Isay interviewed his own dad and listened to the recording hours after his father died and found it comforting. 伊赛采访过自己父亲，父亲去世后，他听了几小时的谈话录音，内心得到了慰藉。