You can never do a kindness too soon,
想要做出善舉，永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)為時(shí)過(guò)早

for you never know how soon it will be too late.
因?yàn)槟阌肋h(yuǎn)不會(huì)知道，何時(shí)你將錯(cuò)失行善的機(jī)會(huì)

How many times have we said,
多少次我們會(huì)這樣說(shuō)

?"Oh I'll do that tomorrow."
哦，明天我會(huì)做這件事的

Sometimes tomorrow never comes
有時(shí)這樣的明天遙遙無(wú)期

and we find ourselves saying,
到最后我們只能說(shuō)

?"Boy, I wish I hadn't put that off."
“天吶，真希望自己沒(méi)有拖延”

Our family has been friends with Betty for many years.
我們一家人與Betty是多年的好友

Over the years
這些年來(lái)

we shared phone calls
我們一直會(huì)互通電話

and birthday cards.
相互贈(zèng)送生日賀卡

Betty sent our youngest son Brandon a birthday card
Betty每年都送我們的小兒子Brandon一張生日卡片

with $5.00 in it
里面夾著5美元鈔票

until he graduated.
直到他從學(xué)校畢業(yè)

This past November
去年11月

I called Betty to see how she was
我打了一個(gè)電話給Betty，想問(wèn)問(wèn)她近況如何

and what she had done on her birthday.
問(wèn)問(wèn)她生日當(dāng)天做了什么

I was quite surprised when Betty didn't answer the phone;
Betty卻沒(méi)有接電話，為此我十分驚訝

instead her daughter Carol did.
接電話的是她的女兒Carol

Carol told me
Carol告訴我

that her mom had gone downhill fast
她媽媽身體情況急速惡化

and she was now in Hospice care.
現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)在臨終關(guān)懷院接受照顧了

Carol handed the phone to Betty.
她把電話交給了Betty

I talked briefly to her
我簡(jiǎn)短的跟她說(shuō)了幾句話

and let her know we loved her.
讓她知道我們愛(ài)她

As soon as I got off the phone
我一放下電話

I sent a text to Brandon
就給Brandon發(fā)了一條消息

to let him know
讓他知道

Betty wasn't doing well.
Betty的情況不太好

Little did I know
我并不知道的是

that Brandon stopped what he was doing
Brandon立刻停下了手里的工作

and immediately sent flowers to Betty.
送了一束花給Betty

You can imagine
你一定能想象

how proud I was of Brandon
我多么為Brandon驕傲

when Carol called the next day
Carol第二天就打來(lái)了電話

letting me know
讓我知道

how much Betty loved the flowers
Betty多么喜歡那些花

Brandon had sent.
花兒就是Brandon送去的

A few days later
幾天之后

Betty died.
Betty去世了

You can never do a kindness too soon,
想要做出善舉，永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)為時(shí)過(guò)早

for you never know how soon it will be too late.
因?yàn)槟阌肋h(yuǎn)不會(huì)知道，何時(shí)你將錯(cuò)失行善的機(jī)會(huì)

?