Jennifer Candotti在整理衣橱时意外发现了一条满载回忆的碎花裙，这条裙子不仅勾起了她对大学时光的怀念，更让她与三位挚友的深厚情谊跃然眼前。35年后，四人决定在意大利复刻当年穿着这条裙子的合影，用笑声和泪水共同见证了一段历久弥坚的友谊。这场跨越时光的连衣裙复刻之旅，是她们对青春与友情的深情致敬。
 

Jennifer Candotti was cleaning out her closet when she stumbled across a dress she hadn’t worn in decades. 

Jennifer Candotti 正在清理衣橱时，意外发现了一条几十年没穿的连衣裙。

Pink and white floral print, cotton, summery — this was Candotti’s favourite dress back in the late 1980s, when she was a college student at the University of Richmond in Virginia. 

粉白碎花图案、棉质面料、夏日风情——这是 Candotti 在1980年代末就读弗吉尼亚里士满大学时最爱的裙子。

American Candotti now lives with her husband in Switzerland, and before they moved abroad, she donated a bunch of old clothes. But she couldn’t part with the floral dress. It was imbued with so many memories. 

美籍的 Candotti 现与丈夫定居瑞士，移居前她捐掉了许多旧衣，却始终舍不得这条碎花裙。它满载着太多回忆。

“It’s moved with me everywhere,” Candotti tells CNN Travel today. “I don’t have my wedding dress, but I still have that dress.”

“它跟着我辗转各地，”Candotti 对 CNN Travel 说道，“我连婚纱都没保留，却一直留着这条裙子。”

When Candotti rediscovered the ‘80s garment last year, she was immediately transported back to her college years. 

去年重拾这件80年代旧衣时，Candotti 瞬间被拉回大学时光。

And as always when Candotti thought of college, she thought of her best friends, who she met the day she moved into Lora Robins Residence Hall in late 1986: Robin Clark, Robin Garrison and Angie Carrano.

每当想起大学，她总会记起1986年末搬进 Lora Robins 宿舍楼当天结识的三位挚友：Robin Clark、Robin Garrison 和 Angie Carrano。

“These are the girls I can count on, who know me best and who, when we are together, feel as though we are 18 again,” says Candotti.

“她们是我最信赖的人，最懂我的人，只要相聚，我们仿佛又回到了18岁。”Candotti 说道。

In Candotti’s favorite college photo with Clark, Garrison and Carrano, taken in 1989, she’s wearing that floral dress. The foursome were at a tailgate at one of the college football games (“We would tailgate before football games, but never go into the football game,” recalls Clark, laughing). They’re each smiling into the camera, wearing sunglasses, holding blue solo cups filled with beer. 

在1989年拍摄的四人最爱的大学合影中，Candotti 正穿着那条碎花裙。当时她们在大学橄榄球赛前参加车尾派对（“我们总在赛前开派对，但从没进场看过比赛，”Clark 笑着回忆）。照片里四人戴着墨镜，举着盛满啤酒的蓝色塑料杯，对着镜头粲然微笑。

It’s over 35 years since the photo was taken, but the photo remains symbolic of Candotti, Clark, Garrison and Carrano’s lasting, loyal friendship. They’ve each got it framed in their homes. It’s their WhatsApp group chat photo. And when Carrano got married, she mailed the photo to the other three, asking them to be her bridesmaids. 

这张照片拍摄至今已有35年，却始终象征着四人历久弥坚的友谊。她们各自将照片装裱在家中，设为 WhatsApp 群聊头像。Carrano 结婚时，还将照片寄给其他三人，邀请她们担任伴娘。

“It’s stuck around,”says Clark of the photo. “It’s stood the test of time.”

“它经住了岁月考验，”Clark 如此评价这张照片。

The friendship has stood the test of time, too. When Candotti fished out the dress from the back of her closet, the four friends, now in their 50s, were about to go on vacation to Le Marche, in eastern Italy.

这份友谊同样经受住了时光洗礼。当 Candotti 从衣橱深处翻出旧裙时，四位年过五旬的好友正准备前往意大利东部的马尔凯大区度假。

Candotti texted a photo of the dress to her friends and spontaneously packed it in her suitcase.

Candotti给好友们发了裙子的照片，并随性将它塞进行李箱。

And then a plan started forming in the group chat:

随后，群聊里开始酝酿一个计划：

“We decided to recreate the photo on our Italian adventure,” says Candotti.

“我们决定在意大利之旅中复刻这张照片。”Candotti 说道。

Recreating the past 复刻旧日时光

One of Candotti, Clark, Garrison and Carrano’s favorite things about vacationing together is “being together under one roof as if it were our freshman year at college,” as Candotti puts it. 

Candotti表示，四人最喜欢一起度假的事情之一就是“像大学一年级时那样，聚在同一个屋檐下”。

They’re all parents, all juggling busy jobs, responsibilities. When they’re apart, they video call, text each other book recommendations, recipes and advice for navigating menopause. 

她们皆是母亲，终日周旋于工作与责任之间。分处异地时，她们会视频通话，互推书籍、分享食谱，交流应对更年期的建议。

But it’s these annual vacations that really remind them of the importance of their decades-long friendship in shaping the people they are today. 

但正是这些年度假期真正让她们意识到，这段跨越数十载的友谊对塑造如今的自己何其重要。

“Now that we are scattered between the US and Europe, we schedule a trip at least once a year to be together and reconnect,” explains Candotti. “Edinburgh was our last adventure in 2023. For 

2024, we decided to travel to Italy.”

“如今我们散居美国和欧洲各地，每年至少安排一次相聚之旅来维系感情，”Candotti 解释道，“2023年我们去了爱丁堡，2024年则选定了意大利。”

This Italy adventure was perhaps their dreamiest trip yet.

这次意大利之行或许是她们迄今最梦幻的旅程。

“We spent the week learning how to make pasta, tasting olive oil, and traveling to the picturesque nearby hillside towns,”recalls Candotti.

“我们用一周时间学习制作意面、品鉴橄榄油，还探访了周边如画的山间小镇，”Candotti 回忆道。

But for all the women, the highlight (other than the “afternoon Aperol spritzes”) was recreating that beloved college photo. 

不过对所有人而言，旅程的高光时刻（除了“午后阿佩罗酒时光”）当属复刻那张珍贵的大学合影。

Candotti wore the original floral dress, of course. Meanwhile Clark, Garrison and Carrano gamely dug out clothes that resembled their outfits in 1989. Garrison sourced the blue solo cups — which aren’t really a thing in Europe — packing them in her bag and bringing them to Italy, where they were filled with fine Italian wine rather than cheap college beer (“We’ve upgraded,”says Robin, laughing). 

Candotti 自然穿上了原版碎花裙，Clark、Garrison 和Carrano 则翻找出与1989年穿搭相似的衣物。Garrison特意准备了欧洲罕见的蓝色塑料杯，将其装入行囊带到意大利——不过这次杯中盛的不再是廉价啤酒，而是醇香的意大利葡萄酒（“我们升级了装备，”Robin 笑道）。

Candotti’s husband, who also joined the trip, took the photo, and helped the women recapture their poses. 

同行的Candotti 丈夫负责掌镜，并协助她们还原当年姿势。

It didn’t take them too long to nail it. And, in between, there was lots of laughter. 

她们很快找准了感觉，过程中欢声笑语不断。

Four decades of friendship 四十载友谊

Later, looking at the photos side by side, the four friends felt happy — and a little bit emotional. 

当两张照片并置眼前时，四人既感到幸福，又有些心潮起伏。

“They say a picture paints a thousand words. And I think it’s so true looking at that picture,” says Clark, who says she was struck by everything the four friends have gone through together in those 35 years.

“都说一图胜千言，这张照片确实如此，”Clark 说道。凝视照片时，35年共度的岁月如潮水般涌上心头。

“There’s so much in that photo that somebody else just looking at it doesn’t see, but we can see and feel it,” Clark says. “And I think that’s what’s so special about it.”

“外人看到的只是表象，但我们能读出其中深意，”Clark 感叹，“这正是它珍贵之处。”

Carrano agrees: “There was so much life to get from that first picture to that to that second picture.” 

Carrano 赞同道：“从第一张到第二张照片之间，藏着我们半生的故事。”

For Carrano, the friendship is underlined by the idea that they’re each other’s “anchors.” 

对Carrano 而言，这份友谊最动人之处在于她们互为彼此的“锚点”。

“We go off and do our thing, but you can always pull yourself back to that anchor and find yourself,” she says.

“我们各自闯荡，但总能回到这个锚点找回本真。”她如是说。

Garrison agrees, counting herself so “lucky to have such wonderful friends,” who never judge, only ever support. 

Garrison 也深有同感，称自己“何其幸运拥有从不评判、永远支持的挚友”。

“We’ve all had tragedies that have happened in our lives,” adds Candotti. “And each time, these are the girls that are with me, that pick up the phone and say, ‘Are you okay? What can I do?’ I know they would do anything.”

“我们都经历过人生至暗时刻，”Candotti 补充道，“但每次她们都会立刻来电问‘你还好吗？我能做什么？’我知道她们愿为我做任何事。”

While all four women have gone through changes and ups and downs over the past 35 years (from “old and new boyfriends” in their early twenties to “empty nest, menopause, taking care of our parents” in latter years) their friendship remains a constant, an “anchor.” 

尽管35年来四人历经沧桑（从二十出头时的“新旧男友更迭”到如今的“空巢期、更年期、照顾父母”），这份友谊始终如锚般稳固。

“Whenever we are together, we are astonished when calculating the number of years we have been friends,” says Candotti. “Through relationships, careers, marriages, children, and deaths, we have seen each other through it all.”

“每次相聚计算友情年数时，我们自己都感到震惊，”Candotti 说，“从恋爱、事业、婚姻、育儿到生死离别，我们见证了彼此人生的每个篇章。”

When Candotti returned from Italy, she hung the floral dress back in her closet, smiling. Then she framed the recreated photo, putting it in pride of place next to the 1989 shot in her home.

从意大利归来后，Candotti 微笑着将碎花裙重新挂回衣橱，并把新照片装裱起来，与1989年的旧照并排摆在家中显眼处。

“In the end, we and the photo turned out all right,” says Candotti. “Thankful for my lifelong friends.”

“最终，我们和照片都安然穿越了时光，”Candotti 说道，“感恩此生得遇挚友。”

编辑 | ETTBL商务英语翻译
翻译｜Romola
来源｜CNN
声明｜配图取自网络，仅供学习分享使用，侵删