Flora-

I grew up in a small town where the elementary school was a ten-minute walk from my house and in an age not so long ago, when children could go home for lunch and find their mothers waiting.我是在一个小镇上长大的，从镇上的小学到我家只需步行10分钟。离当前不算太久远的那个时代 ，小学生可以回家吃午饭，而他们的母亲，则会老早在家等候着。 At the time, I did not consider this a luxury, although today it certainly would be. I took it for granted that mothers were the sandwich-makers, the finger-painting appreciators and the homework monitors.这一切对如今的孩子来说无疑是一种奢望，可是那时的我却不以为然。我觉得做母亲的给她的孩子制作三明治，鉴赏指画，检查他们的家庭作业，都是理所当然的事。 I never questioned that this ambitious, intelligent woman, who had had a career before I was born and would eventually return to a career, would spend almost every lunch hour throughout my elementary school years just with me.我从来没有想过：像母亲这样一个颇有抱负又聪明的女人，在我降生之前，她有一份工作，而且后来她又谋了份差事，可是，在我上小学那几年，她却几乎天天陪着我吃午饭，一同打发午餐时的每一分钟。 I only knew that when the noon bell rang, I would race breathlessly home. My mother would be standing at the top of the stairs, smiling down at me with a look that