异地他乡

生怕闲愁暗恨,多少事、欲说还休。 今年瘦,非干病酒,不是悲秋。
正文

以前写下的一个故事

(2005-08-02 16:40:02) 下一个

Jerry的好朋友Earl去逝了,Earl是这里一所学校(小学+初中)的校长,是经济学家,他在我们这里做过几个讲座,大家都说他是一个很好的人,也很智慧。我没有幸运遇到他。上周六,Jerry和Carol去参加了Earl的悼念会,今天中午吃饭的时候,Jerry和我们分享了悼念会的一些故事。

“一段默悼之后,有人开始站起来讲述Earl生前的事情,我印象最深的是一个老师,她说Earl生病之后,准备辞去校长的职位,开始公开的招聘一个新校长。她的学生,一个五年级的男孩,写信去应聘。Earl回信说,很高兴男孩热爱教育,不过他应该先了解一下校长的职责。于是他们约了一个时间,来看看校长需要做些什么,男孩是不是适合。

  “聊了一阵之后,男孩若有所思的说,
  ‘哦,看起来校长要做的事还不少,责任很大,那你会不会觉得压力很大呢?’
   Earl答,‘有的时候会,你有没有这样的时候呢?’
  ‘有的。’
  ‘面对压力,你有什么好办法来缓解吗?’
  ‘有的。’男孩说。
  ‘哦,可以告诉我吗?’
  ‘当然’男孩说着站了起来,然后扑到地上,开始满地打滚,扭动身体,又是蹬腿,又是伸手。一阵子之后,男孩站起来,‘这就是我的办法。’
  ‘哦,’Earl从他的椅子上站起来,‘我也来试一试好么?’于是他也开始了满地乱扭。”


Jerry一边说一边挥舞着他的双手,扭动着他的身体,给我们做示范。我们四个听众加上Jerry都笑得呼吸困难。想象着70岁的校长,如此的在地上滚来滚去,在五年级的学生面前,实在是让人发笑。

但同时,Jerry的眼泪也流下泪了。几分钟之后,我们才略微止助大笑,Jerry接着说下去,“结束谈话的时候,Earl对男孩说,‘你的方法真是太不错,要是我早点知道就好了。’几天之后,男孩又给校长写了封信,说校长的职责太大,他觉得还是过几年在申请比较好。”
:)

“还有一个Earl的朋友,她在Earl病重之后去医院看望Earl。她走进病房的时候,Earl仰面躺着,闭着眼睛。感觉到又人走近,Earl很勉强的睁开眼睛。‘你好吗?’她小心翼翼的问。Earl很灿烂的笑了(A big small came across his face),‘我杯子里的茶都溢出来了(My cup of tea is spilling over. 出自圣经故事,我杯子里的茶都溢出来了,意为好的不能再好了)。’”

“Earl的妻子也说了一件事:最后一周,Earl回到家里。从医院到家里,移动对于当时的Earl已经是一件很艰难痛苦的事了。可是刚刚到家里,安顿下来没有几分钟,Earl就微微的招手,把妻子叫到身边。妻子抚身倾听,Earl微弱的说,‘院子里的花需要浇水了。’”

“会上还有俩位日本人,那位女士专程从广岛赶来,她不会讲英文,所以带了一个翻译来。女士是广岛原子弹爆炸的少数几个幸存者之一,之后一直在战争博物馆里做讲解员,让人们看到战争的危害,宣扬和平。Earl每年都会送一些学生去日本,一个月左右,让学生了解日本历史和文化,每次他们都会去战争广岛的博物馆。每年原子弹投放的那天,Earl自己也会去广岛,去广岛的战争博物馆,去道歉,去悼念死去了的人们。”

 

“一上午的时间,我们就是这样不停的笑着,留着泪渡过的。”虽然没有看到,但是我还是深深的被感动了,得到了Jerry的同意,粗粗的把这些故事写下来,以下是华盛顿日报上Earl的卟告

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------------
Earl G. Harrison Jr., 71; Longtime Sidwell Headmaster
Wednesday, November 12, 2003; Page B07

Earl G. Harrison Jr., 71, headmaster of Sidwell Friends School for two decades, died of abdominal cancer Nov. 10 at his home in Washington.

Mr. Harrison, who retired in 1998 after a lifetime of teaching, was credited with guiding the nation's largest Quaker day school through the creation of a diversity program and a Chinese studies program; improving the financial aid available to students; increasing the endowment from $300,000 to $12.2 million; expanding the lower school building; and renovating the upper school building, which was named in his honor.

Colleagues and family members say that even more than his accomplishments, Mr. Harrison showed them a reverence for silence, the hallmark of Quaker life, which allowed him to exercise his thoughtful, compassionate nature.

"Even in tennis, he was very gentle," said Rich Lodish, principal of Sidwell's lower school, who often played Mr. Harrison. "When I would miss a shot, which was quite often, he would come over and was kind and gentle in talking about what I could do better the next time. That's the way he lived life. He would kindly and gently push and prod people to do better and to be better."

Students found him approachable as well, whether on the fields, where he enthusiastically cheered for school athletes, or at graduation, where the school tradition was to have some fun at the expense of the headmaster. One year, the graduates put bells in his pockets. Another year, they dropped pennies in a bucket for his "retirement fund."

During his tenure, a White House resident, Chelsea Clinton, attended the school, as did many other children of high-powered individuals. But those from families that were neither rich nor famous were also students.

"He embodied the Quaker ideal of simplicity, and his own groundedness and centeredness kept everyone on an even keel," said Susan Sachs Goldman, former chairwoman of the school board. "He talked to groundskeepers, he talked to the president of the United States. . . . He was unfailingly, equally open-hearted to them all."

Mr. Harrison was born in Philadelphia and attended Westtown School, where he would later be headmaster. He won a gold medal in the School Boy Mile Relay at the 1950 Penn Relays. Mr. Harrison graduated from Haverford College in 1954 and later earned a divinity degree from Yale University and a master's degree in education from Columbia University Teachers College.

He participated in overseas work camps in Kenya, El Salvador, Germany and Holland. In Holland, he helped rebuild dikes destroyed in World War II.

He was an instructor at Antioch College from 1956 until 1958 and then director of the Council for Religion in Independent Schools. After teaching at Brooklyn Friends School in New York and the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, he became headmaster of Westtown School in 1968 at the age of 35. His job was to bring the traditional Quaker boarding school, founded in 1799, into better harmony with the times.

Mr. Harrison soon broke his leg while playing soccer, and the sight of the headmaster hobbling about campus on crutches seemed to help his relationship with the rebellious students of the era, one of his sons said. Both sons attended Westtown while their father was headmaster.

Mr. Harrison also served on the board of trustees of the Good Hope School in St. Croix for a dozen years and on the board of managers of Haverford College for another dozen years. He was awarded honorary degrees from Haverford and Yale Divinity School.

Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Jean Harrison of Washington; two sons, Dana, of Silver Spring and Colin, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and five grandchildren.

?2003 The Washington Post Company

 

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凤凰台上 回复 悄悄话 Indeed, I was so moved that there was one moment that tears watered my eyes while Jerry was telling the story.
m38 回复 悄悄话 What a story and what a character
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