Chapter3 Life Blooms Because of You生命因你絢爛如花
當你怦然心動的時候，
你會發現，
任何事物都變得美好起來，
尤其是生活，
我們為之設計、創造、幻想的東西，
它們讓人淚流滿麵。
讓·亨德裏克森 /Jean Hendrickson
We were a very motley crowd of people who took the bus every day that summer 3 years ago. During the early morning ride from the suburb, we sat drowsily with our collars up to our ears, a cheerless and taciturn bunch.
One of the passengers was a small gray man who took the bus to the center for senior citizens every morning. He walked with a stoop and a sad look on his face when he, with some diff iculty, boarded the bus and sat down alone behind the driver. No one ever paid very much attention to him.
Then one July morning he said “good morning” to the driver and smiled short-sightedly down through the bus before he sat down. The driver nodded guardedly. The rest of us were silent.
The next day, the old man boarded the bus energetically, smiled and said in a loud voice: “And a very good morning to you all!” Some of us looked up, amazed, and murmured “Good morning” in reply.
The following weeks we were more alert. Our friend was now dressed in a nice old suit and a wide out-of-date tie. The thin hair had been carefully combed. He said good morning to us every day and we gradually began to nod and talk to each other.
One morning he had a bunch of wild f lowers in his hand. They were already dangling a little because of the heat. The driver turned around smilingly and asked: “Have you got yourself a girlfriend, Charlie?” We never got to know if his name really was “Charlie”, but he nodded shyly and said yes.
The other passengers whistled and clapped at him. Charlie bowed and waved the f lowers before he sat down on his seat.
Every morning after that Charlie always brought a f lower. Some of the regular passengers began bringing him f lowers for his bouquet, gently pushed him and said shyly: “Here.” Everyone smiled. The men started to joke about it, talk to each other, and share the newspaper.