My teen-age daughter was preparing to return home after having visited her grandparents for a few weeks one summer. Her grandfather gave her 12 post cards .

　　Here, write us a few lines every month, he said.

　　Months passed and the cards remained unused-that is until the day this letter arrived:

　　Dear Jennifer,

　　Life is a series of stages.

　　As a child, I looked forward to becoming a teenager-that happened.

　　As a teen-ager ,I looked forward to becoming a young man-that happened.

　　As a young man, I looked forward to meeting a young woman, in love and becoming a married man-that happened.

　　As a married man, I looked forward to becoming a father-that happened.

　　As a father, I looked forward to becoming a grandfather to beautiful ,intelligent grandchildren-that happened.

　　Then I looked forward to the day they would learn to write-that hasn't happened yet.

　　Yours Sincerely

一个夏天，我十多岁的女儿在她祖父母家过了几周。她准备回家时，祖父给了她十二张卡片。

　　“每月给我们来个短信，”他说。

　　几个月过去了，可卡片一直放在那儿没用----直到有一天来了这样一封信：

　　“亲爱的詹妮芙：

　　生活是一系列阶段组成的。

　　还是个孩子的时候，我期待着成为一个青少年----我如愿以偿了。

　　还是个年轻人的时候，我期待着遇到一个年轻的女人，恋爱、结婚----我如愿以偿了。

　　结了婚，我便期待着成为一个父亲----我如愿以偿了。

　　作为父亲，我期待着成为一个祖父，有漂亮、聪明的孙儿孙女----我也如愿以偿了。

　　接着，我期待着有一天他们能给我写信----我却还没有如愿以偿。

生词：

(1) stage n.阶段

　　(2) teenager n.青少年