In our life, there are moments of success and failure, moments of happiness and sadness. There are challenges, harvests, but also losses that could be forever. Not sure why, there are also moments that we like to spend alone to recollect and re-taste all those past moments, or to share them with strangers that we came across on a journey.

This photo reminds me of an elderly woman and her elderly dog walking along the Geneva lake. From her sharing, I know she has been living in Evian for 40 years, and her dog was almost 10 years old. Its slow, tottering paces told everything. They walk along the lake at dawns and dusks for years. Besides this four-leg family member, she has no others. At the end of the talk, she kindly indicated me where the famous origins of the Evian mineral water are.

We smiled and goodbye, their back became smaller and smaller under the gold sunset. We did not ask for each other’s name, nor take a photo, but carrying away each other’s story. Goodbye was a word told us that we possibly won’t come cross each other once again. Yes, there are people that we might be able to meet only once in our life. But the short, only-once moments would make big or small change on us and the way we treat the people who accompany us in our life.

When I enjoy my moments from that journey, the elderly woman and her elderly dog always emerge.

生活中,我们有成功有失败,有喜悦有悲伤。有挑战,有收获,有失去,或许是永久的失去。不知为何,我们喜欢用独处的时光来回忆、回味所有这些过去的时刻。我们也喜欢与旅途中偶遇的陌生人分享某些时刻。

这张照片勾起我对依云的回忆,回忆里有一个年迈的妇人和她那只也已年长的狗正沿着日内瓦湖散着步。据老妇人所说,她在依云生活40多年了,这只狗也将近10岁,是的,它缓慢、蹒跚的步伐清楚地说明了它的年龄。他们常年这样伴着日出、日落沿着日内瓦湖散步。除了这个四条腿的伴侣,她没有其它的亲人。末了,她热情地告诉我那著名的依云水源在哪里。

我们微笑着挥手道别,他们的背影在日落的余晖中渐行渐远。我们没有询问彼此的名字,没有合影,却分别带走对方的故事。一句再见却分明地告诉我们,可能不会再相遇了。是的,有些人可能我们一辈子只能遇到一次。但这短暂且仅有一次的相遇或许会或多或少地改变我们,并促使我们更加珍惜身边的人。

每当我回味那次旅行,老妇人与她的狗都会浮现在我的记忆里。

Ellen Lu

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