Angus Hamlin

“我”的母親來自一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)、保守的家庭，因而她很少做瘋狂的事情。但是，接下來她的改變讓“我”和“我”哥哥大吃一驚。

My?mother?looks?just?like?many?grandmothers.?She?is?short，?fat，?and?whitehaired.?She?comes?from?a?traditional?family.?She?didn?t?do?crazy?stuff.

That?all?changed?a?few?years?ago.?She?began?to?surprise?my?older?brother?and?me?with?her?“independence”.?In?early?2015，?the?year?she?turned?75，?she?informed?us?she?d?booked?a?sevennight?trip?to?Turkey?alone.?There?was?no?way?my?brother?and?I?could?allow?that.?A?vulnerable?little?old?lady?wandering?the?streets?of?Istanbul?on?her?own，?not?speaking?a?word?of?Turkish，?with?no?knowledge?of?the?laws?and?customs?of?the?land—it?was?out?of?the?question！

She?paid?no?attention?to?us.?Off?she?went.?When?she?returned，?she?told?us?it?had?been?a?wonderful?success.?As?it?turned?out，?she?had?barely?spent?any?time?alone?after?hiring?a?taxi?driver?to?show?her?around?Istanbul?for?a?few?days.?He?introduced?her?to?a?rug?vendor?（小販）?named?Mustafa，?“a?lovely?fellow”，?and?she?bought?some?rugs.?The?vendor?had?taken?her?address?details?and?promised?to?ship?the?rugs?home.?The?vendor?and?my?mother?apparently（顯然）?struck?up?quite?a?friendship?and?she?had?told?him?to?drop?by?if?he?were?ever?in?Canada.?My?mother?had?big?smiles?as?she?told?this?story.

Some?weeks?later，?her?rugs?arrived?with?a?lovely?note?from?Mustafa.?To?our?even?greater?surprise，?the?following?year?Mustafa?himself?arrived，?and?promptly?called?our?mother?to?inform?her?of?that?fact.?“He?came?by?for?a?cup?of?tea.?They?drink?a?lot?of?tea?in?Turkey，”?my?mother?told?my?horrified?brother?and?me.4C1F193C-5322-4D34-A264-0695750EB7AF