Good morning, it’s an honor to be here. 大家早上好，我很荣幸今天能在此演讲。 The poet Elizabeth Bishop once wrote: 美国女诗人伊丽莎白•毕肖普曾经写道： The art of losing isn’t hard to master. So many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their lost is no disaster. 失去的艺术并不难掌握。 太多事物仿佛准备好，离我们而去。 那么这样的失去，也并非灾祸。 I am not a poet. I am a person living with early onset Alzheimer’s, and as that person I find myself learning the art of losing every day. Losing my bearings, losing objects, losing sleep, but mostly losing memories. 我并不是诗人。我只是一个患有早发性阿兹海默症的病人。这个身份让我开始学习失去这门艺术。我失去了优雅，失去了目标，失去了睡眠；而失去最多的，则是记忆 。 All my life, I’ve accumulated memories; they’ve become in a way my most precious possessions. The night I met my husband, the first time I held my textbook in my hands, having children, making friends, traveling the world. Everything I accumulated in life, everything I worked so hard for, now all that is being ripped away. As you can imagine, or as you know, this is hell, but it gets worse. 我的一生积累了各种记忆。从某种意义而言，它们已经成为了我最珍贵的财富。我与丈夫相识的那个夜晚，我初次拿到自己编写的教科书之时；我生儿育女，结交挚友，周游世界。此生积累的点点滴滴，拼命付出的收获种种，如今都在与我渐行渐远。也许你有所了解，或者你可以想象，这种感觉如同深陷地狱，并且逐渐恶化，越陷越深。 Who can take us seriously when we are so far from who we once were? Our strange behavior and fumbled sentences change other’s perceptions of us and our perceptions of ourselves. We become ridiculous, incapable, comic, but this is not who we are, this is our disease. And like any disease, it has a cause, it has a progression, and it could have a cure. 当我们变得与过去的自己大相径庭，还能有谁认真相待？我们举止怪异，谈吐结巴，变得让别人大跌眼镜，甚至让我们自己都感到陌生。我们变得滑稽可笑，变得笨拙无能。但这并不是真正的我们。只是这种疾病把我们变成了这副模样。和所有疾病一样，这种疾病也有根源，有发展，也一定会有办法治愈。 My greatest wish is that my children, our children, the next generation do not have to face what I am facing. But for the time being, I’m still alive, I know I’m alive. I have people I love dearly, I have things I want to do with my life. I rail against myself for not being able to remember things. But I still have moments in the day of pure happiness and joy. And please do not think that I am suffering, I am not suffering. I am struggling, struggling to be a part of things, to stay connected to who I once was. 我最大的心愿就是，这种境遇不会在我的孩子，我们的孩子，我们的下一代身上重演。但是至少此时此刻，我还活着。我知道，我还活着。我还拥有我爱的人，我还拥有要在有生之年完成的梦想。我因为自己无力维持记忆而自我责备，同时我也拥有着纯粹的幸福时光。请大家不要觉得我在备受痛苦折磨。我没有遭受痛苦。我只是在奋力抗争，让现在的自己尽量存在于生活，让过去的自己尽量存在于现在。 So living in the moment I tell myself. 于是我告诉自己，活在当下，珍惜现在。 It’s really all I can do. Live in the moment, and not beat myself up too much, and, and not beat myself up too much for mastering the art of losing. 这是我力所能及的全部。活在当下，珍惜拥有，不对自己求全责备，也不催促强求自己通晓失去的艺术。 One thing I will try to hold on to though is the memory of speaking here today. It will go, I know it will, it may be gone by tomorrow. But it means so much to be talking here today like my old ambitious self who was so fascinated by communication. 但有一件事，我会努力记住，那就是今天在此的演讲。我知道，这份记忆定将消逝，也许明天，它就会消散全无。但这次演讲对我来说意义非凡，因为它让我看到了过去的自己，那个雄心壮志、深爱语言的自己。 Thank you for this opportunity. It means the world to me. 感谢大家给我这次机会。于我而言，它已是整个世界。 Thank you! 谢谢大家！
