It seems like every time our family gets together something is left behind.When I call my children to tell them what they have left behind I am usually told，“Oh，just bring it when you come，”“Keep it for me until I come back the next time，”or“Hey，I really need that，would you mind mailing it to me？”
似乎每次我們家庭聚會，他們總會落下一些東西。每次我打電話告訴我的孩子他們都落下些什么的時候，他們通常會跟我說，“噢，下次你來時給我們帶上吧。”或者“幫我留著，下次我回去再取。”又或者“嗨，我急著用，能幫我郵寄過來嗎？”
“Oh look！Here’s Tegan’s tooth，”I said to my husband as I picked up a ziplock bag with her name engraved on it.Tegan had a loose tooth and had managed to wiggle it out earlier in the day.“Now, she can’t put it under her pillow.I wonder if it will work if I put it under my pillow.The Tooth Fairy is going to be so confused！”I laughed.
“噢，看！這是泰根的牙，”我邊撿起一個寫著她名字的自封袋，邊對丈夫說道。泰根先前有顆牙松了，今早她成功把它拽了下來。“現在，她沒法把牙放在她的枕頭下了。我想知道，如果我把它放在我的枕頭下，那傳說是否奏效。牙仙子會很困惑的！”我笑了。
I walked on around the house finding more things that had been left behind：a toothbrush，a ponytail band，an angel figurine，a pie pan，a frozen teething ring in the freezer，and last but not least the insides of a turkey fryer.
我在屋里四處游走時發現了更多被落下的東西：一把牙刷、一根發帶、一個天使小雕像、一個烙餡餅用的平底鍋、一個放在冰柜里冷藏給嬰兒長牙時咬的橡皮環，最后還有一個同樣重要的炸火雞用的油炸鍋內膽。
I was really kind of enjoying myself.It gave me something to do，after they left，to take my mind off of missing them.
我還真的挺樂在其中的。這使我在他們走后有事可做，從而暫時擺脫對他們的思念。
Then my eyes teared up as I noticed the baby outfit beside the sink where it had been left to dry after spots had been scrubbed out of it.The little outfit，now stain free，reminded me of the trip to the emergency room with Rowan due to a gashon her head that was caused from a flower pot pulled over by her curious little fingers.
接著，留意到水槽旁晾著的那件污點已被洗凈的嬰兒服時，我滿眼是淚。那件干凈的小衣服讓我想起了帶羅溫去急診室那件事。那次，她用好奇的小手指拉倒了一個花瓶，碎片在她頭上劃開了一道很深的口子。
“Hmmm，things left behind…”I pondered to myself.It seems there is one thing that is left behind on every occasion.Memories are always left behind，I reasoned，and what a precious thing good memories are to us.I thought how each item left behind reminded me of the person it belonged to and the story surrounding it.The insides of the turkey fryer that was left behind reminded me of the delicious Thanksgiving meal that we all enjoyed.The empty pie pan reminded me of Katie’s delicious pies.The angel figurine reminded me of the white elephant gift exchangegame that we play every year.Even the bad memory of Rowan’s injury reminded me of how frightened I was at the sound of her cry.It is a bad memory that turned into a good one as it reminded us of how precious little Rowan is to us.
