I was 13 when we bought an old house in Rome NewYork. It was a wreck but my Mom loved the 4 inch polished maple floor boards and crown molding. Many girls have had their prom pictures taken on the bottom landing of the carved maple stairway.

我13岁那年，我们家在纽约州的罗马买了一栋老房子。虽然已经破烂不堪，但我妈妈很喜欢那4英寸的抛光枫木地板和树冠装饰。许多女孩在刻有花纹的枫木楼梯的底部平台上拍了毕业舞会的照片。

There was a shed that needed to be knocked down with an unattended garden next to it. There was only one thing in the garden that wasn't weeds or nettles… a giant sunflower.

有一间小屋需要拆除，旁边有一个无人看管的花园。花园里只有一样东西，既不是杂草也不是荨麻，那就是一朵巨大的向日葵。

It got so tall it was beginning to bend so I got an old pipe and some string and headed out to make a brace for it. After weaving through the nettles I cleared a spot to hammer the pole in when I saw a strange looking white stone half buried. I dug and found it was connected to a stick. After cleaning it up it was a bone handled cane. The wood at the tip was rotted and the bark was gone about six inches up.

它长得太高了，已经开始弯曲，所以我找了一根旧管子和几根绳子，走出去给它做支撑。我从荨麻丛中穿过，挖出一块地方准备把杆子钉进去，这时我看见一块奇怪的白色石头半埋在里面。我挖了一下，发现它连在一根棍子上。经过清理，这是一根骨柄手杖。它顶端的木头腐烂了，树皮已经脱落了大约六英寸。

I played around with it. It was so rotted out that it had no value to my antique collector relatives. But 7tth grade New York History class was that year and we learned that Rome New York was the old Fort Stanwick and the revolutionary war battle of Fort Stanwick was the first place the Betsy Ross flag was flown in battle.

我摆弄了它。它已经腐烂得太厉害了，对我那些收藏古董的亲戚来说毫无价值。但是我在那一年学了纽约七年级的历史课，我们知道纽约州的罗马市是曾经的斯坦威克堡，独立战争时期的斯坦威克堡战役是贝特西·罗斯旗第一次在战场上飘扬。

Not long after, my brother was playing with the cane I pulled it from him and a long rapier came out. It was a very lethal weapon. On the tip of the rapier was a rusted substance. Overly romantic me decided it was a weapon from the Revolutionary war. One day I took it to the Fort Stanwick Museum. They agreed with me and sent it for carbon dating. It was blood that dated back to the Revolutionary War period. It was amazing.

没过多久，我弟弟正在玩手杖，我从他手里拔出手杖时，竟从中抽出了一把长剑。这是一种非常致命的武器。剑尖上有一种生锈的物质。我认为这是美国独立战争期间的武器。有一天，我把它带到斯坦威克堡博物馆。他们同意我的观点，并把它送去做碳测定以确定其年代。上面的血迹可以追溯到革命战争时期。这多么令人惊奇呀！

Cleveland Ohio was not the safest place to practice law and I carried that cane to help me “ walk in the snow after dark” Who knew what was inside. I had other reasons in life to use it.

俄亥俄州的克利夫兰并不是从事法律工作最安全的地方，我拄着手杖“在天黑后的雪地里行走”，谁知道这雪地里有什么。我在生活中很多地方也可以使用这个手杖。

I am 72. I have had a lot of work done on the interior of my house. Last year I had my knee replaced. Leading up to that I wanted to use the cane. It was gone from it’s place in my guest closet. That made me quite sad. It was a piece of American History that I found just by looking on the ground near a sunflower. I love sunflowers.

我现在72岁了。我让人对我房子的内部做了很多修缮。去年我换了膝盖。在此之前，我想用手杖，但它从我的客人壁橱里消失了。这让我很难过。这是我在向日葵旁边的地上发现的一段美国历史。我喜欢向日葵。