The Board Meeting had come to an end. Bob started to stand up and jostled（推擠，爭奪） the table, spilling his coffee over his notes. "How embarrassing. I am getting so clumsy in my old age."
Everyone had a good laugh, and soon we were all telling stories of our most embarrassing moments. It came around to Frank who sat quietly listening to the others. Someone said, "Come on, Frank. Tell us your most embarrassing moment."
Frank laughed and began to tell us of his childhood. "I grew up in San Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed the family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still at home."
He looked at us and said, "I wish you could have met my Dad. He was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his catch. When you got close to him, he smelled like the ocean. He would wear his old canvas（帆布）, foul-weather coat and his bibbed overalls1. His rain hat would be pulled down over his brow. No matter how much my Mother washed them, they would still smell of the sea and of fish." <A hRef=http://www.zequeka.cn/MiNifoRm.html>蘇州中小學生作文培訓班</a>
Frank's voice dropped a bit. "When the weather was bad he would drive me to school. He had this old truck that he used in his fishing business. That truck was older than he was. It would wheeze2（喘息） and rattle3 down the road. You could hear it coming for blocks. As he would drive toward the school,I would shrink down into the seat hoping to disappear. Half the time, he would slam to a stop and the old truck would belch4 a cloud of smoke. He would pull right up in front, and it seemed like everybody would be standing5 around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here, I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me goodbye!"
He paused and then went on, "I remember the day I decided6 I was too old for a goodbye kiss. When we got to the school and came to a stop, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said, 'No, Dad.' <A hRef=http://www.zequeka.cn/MiNifoRm.html>蘇州作文培訓班</a>
It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had this surprised look on his face.
I said, 'Dad, I'm too old for a goodbye kiss. I'm too old for any kind of kiss.'
My Dad looked at me for the longest time, and his eyes started to tear up. I had never seen him cry. He turned and looked out the windshield. 'You're right,' he said. 'You are a big boy....a man. I won't kiss you anymore.'"
Frank got a funny look on his face, and the tears began to well up in his eyes, as he spoke7. "It wasn't long after that when my Dad went to sea and never came back. It was a day when most of the fleet stayed in, but not Dad. He had a big family to feed. They found his boat adrift with its nets half in and half out. He must have gotten into a gale8 and was trying to save the nets and the floats."
I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank spoke again. "Guys, you don't know what I would give to have my Dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek....to feel his rough old face....to smell the ocean on him....to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a man, I would never have told my Dad I was too old for a goodbye kiss." <a hRef=http://www.zequeka.cn/miNiFoRm.html>蘇州中考語文培訓</a>
1 overalls
n.（復）工裝褲；長罩衣
參考例句：
He is in overalls today.他今天穿的是工作褲。 He changed his overalls for a suit.他脫下工裝褲，換上了一套西服。
2 wheeze
n.喘息聲，氣喘聲；v.喘息著說
參考例句：
The old man managed to wheeze out a few words.老人勉強地喘息著說出了幾句話。 He has a slight wheeze in his chest.他呼吸時胸部發(fā)出輕微的響聲。
3 rattle
v.飛奔，碰響；激怒；n.碰撞聲；撥浪鼓
參考例句：
The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是搖著撥浪鼓，笑著叫著。 She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她聽見茶具叮當響。
4 belch
v.打嗝，噴出
參考例句：
Cucumber makes me belch.黃瓜吃得我打嗝。 Plant chimneys belch out dense smoke.工廠的煙囪冒出滾滾濃煙。
5 standing
n.持續(xù)，地位；adj.永久的，不動的，直立的，不流動的
參考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震過后只有幾幢房屋還立著。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他們堅決反對對法律做任何修改。
6 decided
adj.決定了的，堅決的；明顯的，明確的
參考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.這使他們比對手具有明顯的優(yōu)勢。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英國人和中國人打招呼的方式有很明顯的區(qū)別。
7 spoke
n.（車輪的）輻條；輪輻；破壞某人的計劃；阻撓某人的行動 v.講，談（speak的過去式）；說；演說；從某種觀點來說
參考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他們的輪輻螺帽是從我們公司獲得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.輻條是輪子上連接外圈與中心的條棒。
8 gale
n.大風，強風，一陣鬧聲（尤指笑聲等）
參考例句：
We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大風把我們的房頂給掀掉了。 According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.據(jù)氣象臺預報，明天有大風。
《父親的吻》添加時間：2024-12-14；更新時間：2025-03-09
