每日社评 0604 寻【根 】记

寻 【根 】记

早年我们初抵台湾时，父母亲因人生地不熟选择了中壢平镇乡忠贞新村一个非常简陋之眷村栖身。父亲在云南家乡二十岁就当上镇长并配有护兵，可说是青年得志, 到了台湾后一直非常不得志,因而英年早逝，那年他只有六十岁， 意志坚强的母亲担起重任从不向困难低头。

上週末我在接受母校政治大学杰出校友奖后,再次造访了忠贞新村，双亲之老眷村已经撤除，如今已经是二十层高之住宅大楼，唯一留下的是在附近设立的忠贞新村会馆。 当我们到达时乡亲长辈们给予热情之接待。我在大堂上捐款并承诺每年為云南同乡捐助三名奖学金, 表达对家乡之回馈和感激。 忠贞新村正央写道[忠孝立根本 贞操树典型]之上下联， 真令人感动。

父母之眷村屋我们都没有住过，但是每逢假日还是会回到这栋小屋来相聚。室内非常简陋，傢具陈旧。大学一年级我们到石门水厙郊游，母亲从家裡烹调一锅红烧鸡送到现场要给我撑面子。这栋寒酸的厨房岂能烧出如此美味佳餚? 事实上父母之清寒深植我心。

次年暑假我在广播公司找到了工作，领了第一份薪水后，在表姐之陪同下立即前往忠贞大街的傢具店购票全套傢俱和电视机，让父母宅内焕然一新,她们都大為吃惊,妈妈的泪水掉下来 。那年我才二十岁,但是我已下定决心绝不能是穷人。

今天我和妻感觴再次踏上这片故土，虽然往事如烟,双亲早在天国。此次寻根之旅，感伤和兴奋交炽心头。

Roots Journal

Upon arriving Taiwan in the 60’s, my parents chose to settle in Chung Chen, a new village in Pingshen Village. My father, who had achieved success at  his young age in Yunan, China, faced continuous hardships in Taiwan and passed away prematurely at the age of sixty. My resilient mother then took on the heavy responsibility without ever bowing down to difficulties.

Last weekend, after receiving the outstanding Alumni Award from       

my Alma Mater, National Chengchi University, my wife and I revisited Chung Chen village. The old military dependent village where my parents lived has been replaced by a twenty-story residential building. The only remnant is a community hall nearby. Upon our arrival, we were warmly welcomed by the elder villagers.       

We made a donation and pledged        to provide three scholarships annually for fellow students as our way of giving back to my hometown and to express our gratitude.

The couplet displayed in the hall there    read, “Loyalty and Filial Piety are the Foundation, Chastity sets the standard,"

deeply moved me.Although we never lived in my parent’s house, we still gathered there on the holidays. The interior was simple,   

with old and worn out furniture. In my freshman year of college, during a trip to a picnic, my mom cooked a pot of braised chicken at home and brought it to the site to save face for me in front of my classmates. How could such delicious dishes be cooked in that humble kitchen? The modesty and hardships of my parents left a lasting imprint on my heart.

The following summer, I secured a job at the radio station and received my first paycheck. I immediately went out to a furniture store and purchased a complete set of new furniture and a  

TV set to add to my parent’s home.They were both astonished and tears welled up in their eyes. I was only twenty year's old at that time, but I was determined that myself and my family would not remain poor.

Today, my wife and I once again set foot on this familiar land, though the past is like smoke, my parents are already in heaven. This journey of rediscovering my roots stirs a mixture of emotions in my heart of both nostalgia and excitement.