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I felt helpless and out of place. At age 16 I still assumed Mother could do anything. Some years before, when we sold our ranch and moved to town, Mother had decided to open a day nursery. She had no training, but that didn't stand in her way. She sent away for correspondence courses in child care, did the lessons and in six months formally qualified herself for the task. It wasn't long before she had a full enrollment and a waiting list. I accepted all this as a perfectly normal instance of Mother's ability.
我感到无能为力，而且十分尴尬。我虽然16岁了，但仍然以为妈什么都能干成。几年前，当我们卖掉农场，搬到城里住的时候，妈决定开办日托所。她过去没有受过这方面的训练，但这并不能阻碍她。她写信要求参加幼托函授课程，学习了六个月就正式获得从事这项工作的资格。不久她的日托所招生额满，而且还有不少小孩登记等着入托呢。我觉得凭妈的能力，办成这一切是理所当然的。
But neither the nursery nor the motel my parents bought later had provided enough income to send my sister and me to college. In two years I would be ready for college. In three more my sister would want to go. Time was running out, and Mother was frantic for ways to save money. It was clear that Dad could do no more than he was doing already — farming 80 acres in addition to holding a fulltime job.
然而，无论是托儿所或是我父母后来购买的汽车旅馆都不能提供足够的收入供我妹妹和我上大学。两年后就该是我上大学的时候了。再过三年，妹妹也要上了。时间一天天过去，妈拼命想办法攒钱。很清楚，爹已尽了最大努力--除了一份全日工作之外，还耕种了80英亩地。
