"替代的孩子"

當瑪麗亞勞森的姊姊在四歲過世的時候，家庭醫生建議她媽媽再生一個孩子。這便是為什麼瑪麗亞出生了，而且令人不可置信地，被取了跟她過世的姐姐一樣的名字。

現在瑪麗亞是一個成功的室內設計師，但是她年輕時總是籠罩在姐姐的陰霾底下。在50年代，醫生通常會建議失去孩子的家庭儘快再有另一個孩子。瑪麗亞的媽媽接受了這個建議而懷孕。

瑪麗亞的姐姐瑪格莉特表示，面對媽媽的沮喪，瑪麗亞首當其衝。在備感忽略及不受疼愛的情況下，瑪麗亞在15歲那年被抓到行竊。瑪麗亞19歲就結婚，離開她不快樂的家庭，並且很快就有一對雙胞胎兒子，但她無法和他們建立親密的聯繫。她隨後又經歷了三段失敗的婚姻。

瑪麗亞現在逐漸開始接受她小時候的遭遇，她說：「我會希望當年有機會認識瑪麗亞，並且有一個和我年齡相仿的姊姊，雖然誰知道如果她活下來的話，我還會不會出生。」

(Life) A Replacement Child

When Maria Lawsons older sister died at the age of four, her mother was told by the family doctor to have another child. This is how Maria came to be born, and V unbelievably V christened with the same name as her dead sister.

Today Maria is a successful interior designer but her early life was always overshadowed by the ghost of her sister. In those days, 1950s, it was usual for doctors to tell families who had lost children to have another baby as soon as possible. Marias mother took this advice and fell pregnant.

Marias older sister Margaret agrees that Maria bore the brunt of her mothers depression. Feeling neglected and unloved, Maria at 15 years old was caught shoplifting. At 19, Maria left her unhappy home to get married and soon had twin boys but was unable to bond with them. She went on to have three failed marriages.

Maria has now come to accept what happened to her as a child and says, I would have loved to have known Maria and had a sister nearer to my age, although who knows if I would have been born if she had lived.

想聽語音請上FunDay