I have never seen meteors so far in my life, and my mom has seen one meteor.
Saturday, midnight, New York City. I turned off all the lights in my room and sat by the window, looking at the part of the clear sky that was not covered by surrounding buildings. I was hoping I could catch even one meteor from the Orionid meteor shower. I dared not blink, afraid that one meteor would escape my eyes at that moment.
That night, more than 10 years ago, was the same. A meteor shower was supposed to come. The differences are that I was in China, and I was with my mom.
I was in elementary school back then. After a couple of hours of waiting, I became very tired and impatient. I was half asleep, and maybe my eyes were closed.
Suddenly, my mom shouted, “Look!”
I opened my eyes immediately but saw nothing.
She said she saw one meteor, beautiful but fast. I was so upset that I missed it and started to stare at the sky, praying for more to come. We probably waited a couple more hours, but nothing happened. So on our way driving back home, I wanted to cry.
That night, my mom saw a meteor shower that lit up the whole sky with countless shooting stars, not in real life, but in her dream. And she kept screaming, “Xian, look, look! Do you see them? Look right now! There’re so many!”
I heard about her dream the following day. I’m sure if only one of us could see a meteor, she’d rather it be me. Her love is unconditional. And no matter what I do for her in my whole life, I would never be able to return her love.
After so many years, this episode has faded away from my memories. All of a sudden, it came back to me, and it still warms my heart.
Sunday morning, 2 a.m., New York City. I still didn’t see even a single meteor. I decided not to wait any longer and to go to bed.
I was not upset this time. I’ve figured out: Meteors will disappear momentarily, but my mom’s love will last forever, no matter where I go and how far away I am. When I’m not with her, her love is in my heart.我长这么大从来没见过流星，我妈妈见过一颗。
周六，午夜，纽约。我关上了房间里所有的灯，坐在窗前，看着窗外那片没有被周围楼群挡住的晴朗夜空。我希望自己能看到猎户座流星，哪怕只有一颗。我不敢眨眼，生怕在那一瞬间，一颗流星会从我眼前溜走。
那一夜，10多年以前，也是一样的。一场流星雨即将降临。不同的是，当时我在中国，跟我妈妈在一起。
那时我还在上小学。等了几个小时以后，我累了，也倦了。我半睡半醒着，也许已经闭上了眼。
突然，我妈妈叫道：“快看！”
我立即睁开眼，但是，什么也没有。
她说她看到了一颗流星划过，很美但很短暂。因为错过了它，我非常失望，我开始紧盯着天空，祈祷会有更多的流星出现。我们好像又等了几个小时，但是什么也没发生。在回家的路上，我很想哭。
那一晚，我妈妈看到了一场最最壮观的流星雨，无数耀眼的流星照亮了整个夜空。但这不是在真实生活中，是在梦里。她不停地喊着：“步宪，看，快看啊！你看到了吗？现在！有那么多啊！”
第二天，我听说了她前一晚做的梦。我很确定，如果我们两人中只有一人能看到流星，她一定希望那是我。她对我的爱是无条件的。我这一生中无论为她做什么都无法报答母爱。
这么多年过去了，这一片段似乎已从我记忆中淡去。忽然，它又回来了，还是一样能让我感觉到温暖。
星期天，凌晨2点，纽约。我还是没有等到哪怕一颗流星。我决定不再等下去，睡觉去了。
这次，我并没有怎么失望。我已经明白：流星转瞬即逝，而母爱却永恒，不论我去向何方，不管我离家多远。当我不在她身边的时候，她的爱在我心中。