回到故乡罗马尼亚，Simina马不停蹄地赶到外祖母生活的小镇Socodor。席间，她把火爆社交媒体的卡戴珊继父变性的新闻分享给了外祖母。一则轻松的娱乐新闻，引发了Simina对于外祖母、母亲不同人生轨迹的思考。所谓的代沟，其实更多是由生活环境差异造就的。每一代人为了生活和理想奋斗的心情从没有改变。

文/Simina Mistreanu

Last night, as my mom was making dinner in her kitchen in Socodor, a village in western Romania, my grandmother and I were sitting at the table. We were talking as I skimmed through Facebook posts on my phone. For a couple of days now, social media has been inundated by posts about Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as American Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner.

Socodar是罗马尼亚西部的一个小镇子。Simina在那里跟外祖母有一场奇特的对话。

Jenner, 65, had transitioned from being male to female and had just appeared on the June cover of Vanity Fair magazine. The whole Western world seemed to be talking about her, so I thought my mom and grandma should know about it, too. I showed them pictures of Jenner dressed in a corset and gown, shot by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz. This woman used to be a man, I told my grandma. He had won the gold medal in track and field at the 1976 Olympics. He had been married three times and had four children. But now, she was a woman. There are hundreds of thousands of people like her all around the world, I told grandma.

前美国奥林匹克田径赛冠军Bruce Jenner，现用名Caitlyn Jenner，65岁，刚刚出现在时尚杂志Vanity Fair六月期封面。这些天，整个西方世界被他的变性新闻刷屏烧脑。我觉得外祖母也应该知道这件事。

“Really?” she said, looking a bit confused.

“Yes, and now they’re accepted by society, which is great,” I told her. “They get to make their own choices and live publicly as they wish.”

“很棒的是他们现在已经被社会承认了。他们做出了自己的选择，还能用理想的方式去过公众生活。”

My grandma didn’t say much. She just asked to see the pictures again and marveled at how young and beautiful Jenner looked.

Next, I brought down my laptop and showed grandma Facebook. I explained that people connect on this network on the Internet and post pictures of themselves, messages, articles and videos. I showed her pictures of my childhood friends, all grown up now, with their families.

I told her I had 1,333 Facebook friends, but most of them were just acquaintances. Next, I showed her my pictures. I showed her a group picture of journalist friends whom I’d met at a workshop in London.

We were of all races and colors, coming from countries in Asia, Africa and South America. I showed her my friends in the U.S. Some of them are gay, I told her. And here’s one of my good friends, a Muslim woman from India who wears a headscarf.

Everyone gets along well, and many people enjoy this diversity, I told grandma. Of course there are still problems, but this is the general situation.

外祖母没有说太多。她一直紧紧盯着图片，惊异于Jenner看起来是多么年轻漂亮。后来我给她普及了脸书、社交媒体，让她看我脸书上自世界各地的朋友的照片。他们性向、种族、宗教都大不相同，但我们相处起来都很自在，很多人喜欢这种多样性。

“Oh, my dear,” she said as I put the laptop away. “You’ve seen so much of the world.”

“噢，天哪。你看过那么精彩的世界。”

I had, and at that moment I found it hard to explain that it was because of her and my mom.

My grandma was born and has lived her entire life in this village. Her mother died when she was 3, and her father died when she was 8. She was raised by aunts and got married young to my grandfather, in search of a home. Life became more difficult when my grandfather started drinking and occasionally beat her. She eventually took my mom and married the man across the street,who was 20-something years her senior.

外祖母的整个人生都在这个镇子度过。年幼父母双亡，她由姑妈抚养长大，很年轻就嫁给了外祖父。后来外祖父开始酗酒并且不时殴打她。最终她带着我母亲嫁给了街道对面长她20岁的男人。

Although my grandma tried, she wasn’t able to offer my mom a stable environment growing up. My mother once told me that when she was in high school, in a nearby town, she sometimes would not have enough money for food. She promised herself she would never be poor again. She and my father worked hard, built a beautiful house and bought both my sister and I apartments in the cities where we lived.

她非常努力，仍然没能给我母亲提供一个安稳的成长环境。母亲曾告诉我，“没钱买吃的”这种事情在她的生活中实实在在发生过。她发誓不要再过这种贫穷的生活。她跟父亲十分努力，建了一座美丽的房子，我妹妹和我可以在城市里面自如生活。

My mother, who was eventually widowed, raised my sister and I in comfort. We were never burdened by our mother and grandmother’s worries and could focus on pursuing our interests and passions. I became interested in journalism, social issues and exploring the world.

我们从来没有因为母亲和外祖母感到负担。我们可以一心一意地追求兴趣所在。我开始对记者感兴趣，于是开始关注社会话题，并且探索这个世界。

The women in my family in a way have walked the steady road of progress. My grandmother fought for stability, my mother worked for prosperity, and I am pursuing my interests in storytelling and social justice.

家族里的女人们都在用不同的方式活得越来越好。外祖母为了安稳而奋斗，母亲为了兴旺而奋斗，我为了做自己喜欢的事而奋斗。

Similarly, China in the past 50 years has transitioned from a period of poverty and famine to increasing prosperity. Maybe in the next few decades the country will see an increased focus on social justice and creative expression.

同样的，在过去的50年里，中国从一个贫穷饥荒的阶段发展到越来越繁荣。或许，在未来的几十年里，这个国家会越来越重视社会公平和创造力的表现。

Many of us today live more comfortably than our parents and grandparents. I think what we need to remember as we walk our paths is that we should continue to solve problems and build a better, more inclusive world for future generations. It’s already an exciting one, in which a 79-year-old Romanian woman who never left her village for more than a few days can marvel at Caitlyn Jenner’s wrinkle-free face and beautiful dress.

大多数人都比他们的父辈祖辈生活的更加舒适。我们需要记住的是我们应当不断解决问题，为下一代构建一个更好的、更加包容的世界。想像一下，一个79岁足不出户的罗马尼亚女人，对Caitlyn Jenner没有皱纹的脸和充满魅力的裙饰感到惊奇，这是多令人激动啊。