Jok Church: A circle of caring

Translator: Niclas Tonnesen Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

You know, what I do is write for children,

Som i ved, hvad jeg laver er at skrive for børn,

and I'm probably America's

og jeg er sandsynligvis Americas

most widely read children's author, in fact.

mest læste børneforfatter, faktisk.

And I always tell people

Og jeg fortæller altid folk

that I don't want to show up looking like a scientist.

at jeg ikke ønsker at dukke op og ligne en videnskabsmand.

You can have me as a farmer, or in leathers,

Du kan have mig som landmand, eller i læder,

and no one has ever chose farmer.

og ingen har nogensinde valgt landmand.

I'm here today to talk to you

Jeg er her i dag at tale med dig om

about circles and epiphanies.

om cirkler og åbenbaringer.

And you know, an epiphany

Og du ved, en åbenbaring er

is usually something you find that you dropped someplace.

som regel noget du opdager, at du har tabt et sted.

You've just got to go around the block

Du behøver blot at gå rundt om bygningen

to see it as an epiphany.

for at se det som en åbenbaring.

That's a painting of a circle.

Det er et maleri af en cirkel.

A friend of mine did that -- Richard Bollingbroke.

En af mine venner malede det--Richard Bollingbroke.

It's the kind of complicated circle

Det er den komplicerede type cirkel

that I'm going to tell you about.

som jeg vil fortælle dig om.

My circle began back in the '60s

Min cirkel begyndte tilbage i 60 ' erne

in high school in Stow, Ohio

i high school i Stow, Ohio

where I was the class queer.

hvor jeg var klassen svans.

I was the guy beaten up bloody

Jeg var den fyr som blev tævet blodig

every week in the boys' room,

hver uge i drengenes omklædningsrum,

until one teacher saved my life.

indtil én lærer reddede mit liv.

She saved my life by letting me go to the bathroom

Hun reddede mit liv ved at lade mig gå på toilettet

in the teachers' lounge.

i lærernes lounge.

She did it in secret.

Hun gjorde det i hemmelighed.

She did it for three years.

Hun gjorde det for tre år.

And I had to get out of town.

Og jeg var nødt til at komme ud af byen.

I had a thumb, I had 85 dollars,

Jeg havde en tommelfinger, jeg havde 85 dollars,

and I ended up in San Francisco, California --

og jeg endte i San Francisco, Californien--

met a lover --

mødte en elsker--

and back in the '80s, found it necessary

og tilbage i 80 ' erne, fandt jeg det nødvendigt

to begin work on AIDS organizations.

at begynde at arbejde for AIDS organisationer.

About three or four years ago,

For tre eller fire år siden,

I got a phone call in the middle of the night

fik jeg et telefonopkald midt om natten

from that teacher, Mrs. Posten,

fra den lærer, Mrs Posten,

who said, "I need to see you.

Som sagde, "Jeg har brug at se dig.

I'm disappointed

Jeg er skuffet over

that we never got to know each other as adults.

at vi aldrig har lært hinanden at kende som voksne.

Could you please come to Ohio,

vil du være sød og komme til Ohio,

and please bring that man

og medbring den mand

that I know you have found by now.

jeg ved, du må have fundet.

And I should mention

Og jeg bør nævne

that I have pancreatic cancer,

at jeg har kræft i bugspytkirtlen,

and I'd like you to please

og jeg vil venligt bede dig om

be quick about this."

at komme hurtig hertil."

Well, the next day we were in Cleveland.

Nå, den næste dag var vi i Cleveland.

We took a look at her, we laughed, we cried,

Vi tog et kig på hende, vi lo, vi græd,

and we knew that she needed to be in a hospice.

og vi vidste, at hun havde brug for at være på et hospice.

We found her one, we got her there,

Vi fandt hende et, vi fik hende derhen,

and we took care of her

og vi tog os af hende

and watched over her family,

og tog hånd om hendes familie,

because it was necessary.

fordi det var nødvendigt.

It's something we knew how to do.

Det var noget vi vidste, hvordan man gjorde.

And just as the woman who wanted to know me as an adult

Og lige som den kvinde, der ønskede at kende mig som voksen

got to know me,

kom til at kende mig,

she turned into a box of ashes

blev hun til en æske med aske

and was placed in my hands.

og blev placeret i min hånd.

And what had happened

Og hvad der skete var det at

was the circle had closed,

cirklen havde lukket sig,

it had become a circle --

Det var blevet en cirkel--

and that epiphany I talked about

og den åbenbaring jeg talte om

presented itself.

præsenterede sig selv.

The epiphany is

Åbenbaringen er at

that death is a part of life.

døden er en del af livet.

She saved my life;

Hun reddede mit liv;

I and my partner saved hers.

Jeg og min partner reddede hendes.

And you know, that part of life needs everything

Og du ved, at den del af livet har brug for alt

that the rest of life does.

som resten af livet har.

It needs truth and beauty,

Den behøver sandhed og skønhed,

og jeg er så glad for at det er blevet nævnt så meget her i dag.

and I'm so happy it's been mentioned so much here today.

It also needs --

Det behøver også--

it needs dignity,

Det har brug for værdighed,

love and pleasure,

kærlighed og glæde,

and it's our job to hand those things out.

og det er vores opgave at dele disse ting.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)