What were the last words Brandon Guffey said to his son Gavin? Four years on(四年过去了), he still struggles(挣扎；艰难应对) with this question. “That last exchange, it bothers(困扰；使不安) me constantly,” he says. “I think I said, ‘Goodnight, buddy. I love you,’ and he said, ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’ I sincerely hope that’s what I said. The truth is, I’ll never know for certain(确定地；确切地).”
布兰登·古菲对儿子加文说的最后一句话是什么？四年过去了，他仍在苦苦追问。他说：“最后那次对话，一直折磨着我。我想我说的是‘晚安，伙计。我爱你’，他说的是‘明早见’。我真心希望我说的是这些。可事实是，我永远无法确定。”
The exchange happened in 2022, on a hot July in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where, just weeks before, Guffey had won the Republican ticket(候选人名单；竞选资格) to stand for(竞选；参选) the state’s House of Representatives. The election was three months away, Guffey’s head was buzzing(嗡嗡作响；充满兴奋) with politics, and he’d spent that evening at a local event.
那次对话发生在2022年7月，南卡罗来纳州罗克希尔一个炎热的夜晚。就在几周前，古菲刚刚赢得共和党初选，将竞选州众议员。选举还有三个月，古菲满脑子都是政治，那天晚上他参加了一场当地活动。
The house was still(寂静的；静止的) when he returned home just before midnight. His wife, Melissa, had gone to bed; his two younger sons, Callahan, 4, and Coen, 16, and both family dogs were sleeping too. The only sounds were the summer cicadas(蝉) and the frogs calling from the nearby creek – and also the laughter of his 17-year-old-son, Gavin. He was gaming in his bedroom, headset on, talking with friends. It was the long summer break between school and starting college. “I often say Gavin was living his best life(过着最精彩的生活) at that point,” says Guffey. “He’d just got comfortable in who he was. He wasn’t trying to ‘fit in(融入；合群)’ or please anyone. He was looking forward to(期待；盼望) starting college and pursuing his dream of becoming an art teacher.”
他快到午夜才回到家，屋里一片寂静。妻子梅丽莎已经睡了；两个小儿子——4岁的卡拉汉和16岁的科恩——以及家里的两只狗也都睡着了。唯一的声音是夏日的蝉鸣、附近溪边青蛙的叫声，还有17岁儿子加文的笑声。他正在卧室里打游戏，戴着耳机，和朋友们聊天。那是从学校到大学之间的漫长暑假。古菲说：“我常说，加文那时正过着最好的生活。他刚刚接纳了自己本来的样子，不再试图‘合群’或讨好谁。他期待着上大学，追逐当美术老师的梦想。”