Jok Church: A circle of caring

Translator: Liridon Shala Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

You know, what I do is write for children,

Ju e dini qe une shkruaj për fëmijë,

and I'm probably America's

dhe mund te them se jam autori

most widely read children's author, in fact.

Amerikan me i lexuar nga femijet, ne fakt

And I always tell people

gjithmone i them njerezve

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

qe nuk dua te shfaqem dhe te dukem sikur jam shkencetar.

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

Ju mundeni te me shihni te veshur si fermer apo me lekure,

and no one has ever chose farmer.

dhe askush nuk ka zgjedhur fermerin.

I'm here today to talk to you

Sot jam ketu per te folur me ju

about circles and epiphanies.

per rrethet dhe epifanite.

And you know, an epiphany

Dhe e dini se epifania

is usually something you find that you dropped someplace.

eshte zakonisht dicka qe gjen qe ju kishit lene diku.

You've just got to go around the block

Mjafton te besh nje rreth

to see it as an epiphany.

per te pare qe eshte nje epifani.

That's a painting of a circle.

Kjo eshte pikture e nje rreth .

A friend of mine did that -- Richard Bollingbroke.

E ka bere nje shok i imi -- Richard Bollingbroke.

It's the kind of complicated circle

Eshte nje lloj qarku i komplikuar

that I'm going to tell you about.

qe une do t'ju tregoj.

My circle began back in the '60s

Qarku im fillon ne vitet 60

in high school in Stow, Ohio

ne shkollen e mesme ne Stow, Ohio

where I was the class queer.

ku isha nxenes i cuditshem.

I was the guy beaten up bloody

Une isha ai qe isha rrahur deri ne gjakosje

every week in the boys' room,

cdo jave ne banjon e djemve,

until one teacher saved my life.

derisa nje mesuese me shpetoi jeten.

She saved my life by letting me go to the bathroom

Me shpetoi jeten duke me lejuar te perdor banjon

in the teachers' lounge.

ne sallen e mesuesve.

She did it in secret.

Ajo e beri fshehurazi.

She did it for three years.

Per 3 vjet rresht.

And I had to get out of town.

Dhe ne fund mu desh te lija qytetin.

I had a thumb, I had 85 dollars,

Me autostop dhe 85 dollare ne xhep,

and I ended up in San Francisco, California --

perfundova ne San Francisko, Kalifornia --

met a lover --

takova nje te dashur --

and back in the '80s, found it necessary

dhe ne vitet e 80-te, e gjeta te domosdoshme

to begin work on AIDS organizations.

te filloj te punoj ne organizaten e AIDS

About three or four years ago,

Rreth 3 apo kater vite me vone

I got a phone call in the middle of the night

mora nje telefonat mu ne mesin e nates

from that teacher, Mrs. Posten,

nga mesuesi . Zonja Posten,

who said, "I need to see you.

e cila tha " me duhet t'ju shoh.

I'm disappointed

Jam e zhgenjyer

that we never got to know each other as adults.

qe nuk mundem te njohim njeri tjetrin si te rritur.

Could you please come to Ohio,

A mund te vini ne Ohio,

and please bring that man

dhe te lutem me sill at njeri

that I know you have found by now.

te cilin e di se e keni gjetur deri me tani.

And I should mention

Dhe duhet te them

that I have pancreatic cancer,

qe kam kancer pankreatik

and I'd like you to please

dhe ju lutem

be quick about this."

bejeni shpejt kete."

Well, the next day we were in Cleveland.

Diten tjeter ne ishim Cleveland.

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

Ne e pame ate, qeshem, qame,

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

dhe vrejtem se ajo duhet te ishte ne spital.

We found her one, we got her there,

Ne gjetem nje te tille dhe e cuam atje,

and we took care of her

u kujdesem per te

and watched over her family,

dhe u kujdesem per gjendjen e familjes se saj

because it was necessary.

sepse ishte e nevojshme.

It's something we knew how to do.

Ishte dicka qe ne dinim se si ta bejme.

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

Dhe tamam kur gruaja e cila deshironte te me njihte mua si te rritur

got to know me,

arriti te me njohe,

she turned into a box of ashes

ajo u shnderrua ne nje kuti me hi

and was placed in my hands.

dhe e vendosen ne duart e mija.

And what had happened

Dhe ajo qe kishte ndodhur

was the circle had closed,

ishte mbyllur qarku,

it had become a circle --

ishte bere nje qark--

and that epiphany I talked about

dhe ajo epifani qe fola me pare

presented itself.

u shfaq.

The epiphany is

Epifania ishte

that death is a part of life.

qe vdekja eshte pjese e jetes

She saved my life;

Ajo me shpetoi jeten mua;

I and my partner saved hers.

une dhe prinderit e mi ia shpetuam asaj.

And you know, that part of life needs everything

Dhe ju e dini, kjo pjese e jetes ka nevoje per cdo gje

that the rest of life does.

qe behet ne pjesen tjeter te jetes.

It needs truth and beauty,

Ka nevoje per te verteten dhe bukurine,

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

dhe jam shume i lumtur qe eshte permendur kaq shume sot ketu

It also needs --

Po ashtu i duhet --

it needs dignity,

i duhet dinjiteti,

love and pleasure,

dashuria dhe kenaqesia,

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

dhe eshte detyra jone te kujdesemi per keto gjera.

Thank you.

Faliminderit.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)