《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词3500》Unit 39 愿爱地久天长

　　Unit 39

How Love Endures

It's a year I could never have imagined happening, let alone  getting through. A year since I lost the love of my life, the man I  expected to be with forever, the man whose face I still long to see  when I wake up in the morning. My husband, Rick, was the commander of  the space shuttle Columbia. Last February 1 he was supposed to come  home to our two kids and me, but instead he went to his eternal 1 home  in heaven when the shuttle broke apart in midair over east Texas.

I had admired Rick since high school. He was a year older,  popular and good-looking. For some couples, it's love at first sight.  For Rick and me, it was love at first date. This guy was special. The  evening proved it. There was none of the first-date awkwardness 2 -- not  even when he knocked over is water at dinner. I don't remember a think  about the movie we went to except for how right it felt to have his  arm around me. Neither of except for how right it felt to have his arm  around me. Neither of us wanted the night to end. We parked by the  lake and talked.

That's when Rick told me about his dream of being an  astronaut. He had written to NASA for a list of the requirements: a  master's degree in science, math or engineering, a good number of  hours as a pilot -- which was why he was going to the Air Force after  graduation. I was beyond impressed. We dated all through college and  got married on February 27, 1982.

Rick was chosen for US-British test pilot exchange program in  1992. We moved to the English countryside, where our marriage grew to  a deeper level with no barriers standing 3 between us. Later Rick  applied 4 a fourth time for the space program and got the call from  NASA.

In Huston, no matter how tired Rick was after a long day of  NASA training, he was 100 percent involved in family at home. There  was no sweeter music to me than the sound of our kids laughing with  their Dad.

I was anxious at Rick's first shuttle mission, as pilot of the  Discovery in 1999. The memory of the Challenger explosion was still  clear. The Discovery mission was a success so I was much at ease abut  Rick's next trip, as commander of the Columbia, even though the launch  date got put off several times. I peacefully watched the shuttle lift  off last January 16. Then tow 5 weeks later as the Columbia entered the  earth's atmosphere it broke apart. It was like watching my whole life  break into pieces and fall from the sky.

This February 27 would have been our 21 wedding anniversary.  This last year has seemed very, very ling. Grief 6 seems to bring time  to a halt. Yet love never stands still. Love is always going on. There  was a voice deep inside me that assured me I would be OK, the same  voice that had brought me comfort during the other hard times in my  life. I knew I would have the strength to go on, and where that  strength would come from. It was love that would save me now.