I was sitting in a bathtub full of 1)moldy 2)sheetrock when my 13-year-old son asked the question. “Can you take me golfing sometime?” he said.
　　I had a bathroom to remodel. It was fall, and the forecast for the next week was for a 100 percent chance of Oregon’s 3)liquid sunshine. I wanted to say no. “Sure,” I said.
　　“What did you have in mind?”
　　“Well, maybe you could, like, pick up Jared and me after school on Friday and take us out to Oakway.”
　　“Sounds good.”

　　当时我正坐在装满发霉的灰板的浴缸里,我那13岁大的儿子问了这样一个问题。“你能找个时间带我去打高尔夫球吗?”他说道。
　　我得装修浴室。那时候是秋天,天气预报预测下周绝对是俄勒冈州典型的雨天。我本想回绝儿子,却答道:“没问题。”
　　“你有什么主意吗?”
　　“噢,也许你可以,比如周五放学后来接我和贾莱德,然后带我们去奥克威高尔夫球场。”
　　“这主意听起来不错。”

Friday came. The showers continued. But at the appointed hour, I changed from home-improvement garb to rain-protection garb and loaded the boys’ 4)clubs and mine in the back of the car.
　　In front of the school, Ryan and Jared 5)piled in. Ryan looked at me with a perplexed expression.
　　“What’s with the golf hat, Dad?” he said.
　　It was, I thought, a silly question, like asking a 6)scuba diver what’s with the swim 7)fins. “Well, I thought we were going to play some golf.”
　　“Uh, you’re going, too?” he asked.

　　周五到了。雨一直在下。但到了约定的时间,我换掉装修时穿的工装,换上防水衣裤,并把我和孩子们的高尔夫球棒放进车尾箱。
　　在学校门口,瑞恩和贾莱德挤进车里。瑞恩一脸困惑地看着我。
　　“爸爸,你怎么戴着高尔夫球帽?”他问道。
　　我觉得这问题好傻,好像在问一个戴着水下呼吸器到深海潜水的人干嘛穿着脚蹼。“噢,我们不是要去打打高尔夫球吗?”
　　“啊?你也去打吗?”他问。

　　Suddenly, it struck me like a three-iron to my gut: I hadn’t been invited. Thirteen years of parenting flashed before my eyes. The birth. The diapers. The late-night feedings. Helping with homework. Building forts. Fixing bikes. Going to games. Going camping. Going everywhere together—my son and I.

　　突然,我像被一支高尔夫球3号铁杆击中腹部一般——原来我不在被邀请之列。为人父母13年来的情形在我眼前瞬间闪现。看着他出生,帮他洗尿布,在深夜里喂哺他,辅导他做作业,和他一块堆堡垒、修单车、玩游戏、去野营。我和儿子去哪都一起。

　　Now I hadn’t been invited. This was it. This was the end of our relationship as I had always known it. This was “8)Adios, Old Man, thanks for the memories but I’m old enough to swing my own clubs now so go back to your rocking chair and crossword puzzles and—oh yeah—here’s a half-off 9)coupon for your next bottle of 10)Geritol.”