親愛的媽媽，
又到了妳的生日，今年我還是想唱首歌給妳聽。我記得妳很喜歡妳走前的最後一個生日，我唱給妳聽的歌，所以今年我再唱一首歌送給妳。如果妳聽得見，希望妳會喜歡。
我第一次聽見《時間都去哪兒了》，是在妳診斷出癌症轉移之後不久。當我在 YouTube 上的影片中聽到這首歌時，我立刻就淚崩了，因為太真實了，所以雖然這首歌深深地觸動了我，但是我從來不敢唱給妳聽，怕妳觸景傷情。當時我不知道妳還有多少時間，但是我想，如果妳能看著我出嫁成家、我能看著妳慢慢長出滿頭白髮，那我就別無所求了。可惜世事總是不盡如人意。
過去這一年多，我還真的不知道時間都去哪兒了。有一小部分的我，似乎依然孤寂落寞地駐足在2020年的10月；但是更大一部分的我，卻一路向前策馬狂奔，彷彿要向妳證明我過得很好、讓妳放心。我想，妳一定是在我看不見的地方照拂著我、輕輕地推著我大步流星地向前走的。比方說，今年三月我跳槽十分順利，我猜可能是妳心疼我了。不知道妳有沒有覺得，我在我的新崗位，終於有幾分妳當年在台耀的風采了？
媽媽，我好想念妳。我們在一起29年的時間，實在太短了。
Dear Mom,
It’s your birthday again. This year, I wanted to sing another song for you. I remember you really liked the song I sang for you on your last birthday. If you can somehow hear this one, I hope you will like it too.
I first heard “Where Has the Time Gone?” not too long after your cancer metathesized. When I heard it on this YouTube video, I burst into tears because it was too real. Therefore, even though this song touched my heart deeply, I never had the courage to share it with you — I didn’t want to bring tears to your eyes. Back then I didn’t know how much more time you had, but I thought if you could see me get married, and if I could see your hair slowly turn grey, I would have nothing else to ask for. But things don’t always go the way I wanted.
In the past year or so, I really have no idea where has the time gone. There is still a small part of me that seems to be stuck in October 2020 alone. The rest of me, however, galloped forward in life like a horse spurred by a hasty rider. Perhaps I was trying to show you that I am doing just fine so that you wouldn’t have to worry about me. I think you must have been blessing me somewhere that I cannot see, nudging me to stride forward in my life. For example, I had a really smooth job transition earlier in March — I guess you must have been caring for me. I am wondering what you think of me in my new role — do I finally start to look a little bit like you when you were at Formosa Laboratories?
Mom, I really miss you. 29 years together is too short for us.