原文作者：佚名

　the call came around 3：30 p.m. on a sultry minnesota day. the hospice social worker， cheryl， explained the situation in a rush. she had tried 15 judges， and all were either in court or otherwise unavailable. by chance， she had reached me directly.
 　　i had just finished a tough trial and was in my chambers surrounded by judicial detritus： legal briefs， scores of exhibits. to be honest， i almost didn’t answer the phone.
 　　all i wanted was a drink.
　　that， however， would be considered poor decorum for a judge， and judges lose their jobs over poor decorum. i have a wife and two children. so i tried to shake off my grumpiness and be civil to cheryl. i asked in my calmest， most oliver wendell holmes voice what i could do for her.
 　　she said she needed a judge to perform an emergency wedding.
　　believe it or not， this was not my first such request of the week. in fact， i often receive these requests， usually involving the need to get a waiver to avoid the required five-day waiting period. sometimes i am sympathetic， as when the request is spurred by a sudden deployment to iraq or afghanistan.
 　　but generally i don’t like to reward those who leave matters like the arrangement of a wedding until the day they want it to happen. i was tired of the seemingly endless series of calls from people with ridiculous， impulsive requests.[论文网]
 　　but cheryl begged； she practically yanked my bleeding heart right out of my chest. she explained that she was a hospice social worker for thomas， 77， who had recently been discharged from the medical center hospice unit so he could die at home. he was conscious and lucid but likely to die at any moment.
 　　his dying wish was to marry donna， his life partner of 38 years. she was 57. they had talked about marriage over the years but had never gotten around to a wedding. they had even gone so far as to fill out the application from the downtown wedding license center.
 　　was this yet another case of people irresponsibly leaving things until the last minute？ probably. but i realized in the moment it didn’t matter. people do stupid， human things. i could make this one right.
 　　by law， the couple was required to attest in person， under oath， in front of the wedding license official， that all of the statements on the application were true： that they wanted to marry each other， and that as required by minnesota law， “we are no nearer of kin than the first cousins once removed； that… there is no legal impediment to this marriage， that neither of us has a spouse living， and that one of the applicants is a man and the other is a woman.”

the wedding license bureau had told cheryl that no one there had the power to issue an emergency license by phone， but maybe she could try to reach a judge. there were formalities： the five-day waiting period and an app

earance in person at the wedding license bureau. there was no official procedure for an emergency deathbed-wedding license.
 　　when someone goes to the trouble of trying to contact 16 judges， there’s usually an important issue at stake. but i was a sorry excuse for a judge that day， and i was in no shape to do anyone a good deed.
 　　also， my courthouse in downtown minneapolis was at least 20 miles from their home， a trip that takes 30 minutes under the best circumstances， and in this case， the evening rush was already under way. thomas was near death. the only option seemed to be a telephone wedding， yet that would violate the rule requiring the wedding to occur in the presence of the judge.
 　　my brain said no. no！ my court clerk stood outside my door at the head of a growing line that included the detective with the search warrant and lawyers from the last case， still unwilling to go home.
 　　but as if by rote i said： “yes. yes， we’ll see if we can make it work.”
　　you see， my father had died of liver cancer a few years earlier. i’d visited him in chicago while he was sick， putting a mat under his hospice bed and sleeping next to him， holding his hand so i could be there in his dying moments. everyone thought he had hours to live.
 　　then he rebounded， and i flew home to minneapolis and returned to work. to my eternal regret， i was not there a week later when he died. it was because of my poor planning that he died alone.
 　　thinking of my father， i made a few legal inquiries， verifying that thomas and donna had completed a wedding license certificate， that the family supported the wedding and it was not a ruse to divert an inheritance， and that the humanitarian nature of the wedding was real and true.
 　　it would all have to be done by phone， and it would have to be fast.
　　witnessed on their end by a hospice chaplain and the bride and the bridegroom’s family， who encircled thomas’s bed， the couple were placed under oath. acting in the place of the wedding license registrar， i swore them to the truth of all of the statements on their license application. donna swore to the truth and signed the application. thomas swore to the truth by squeezing the hospice worker’s finger “yes” and signed an “x.”

i performed this ceremony holding the phone， sitting at my mess of a desk， as the detective waited impatiently for his search warrant just outside my door.
 　　“do you， thomas， take donna to be your lawful wedded wife？”
　　the chaplain said， “he squeezed her finger ‘yes.’ ”
　　“do you， donna， take thomas to be your lawful wedded husband？”
　　“yes.”
　　“do you promise to love and care for each other， in good times and bad， in sickness and health， for better or worse， for as long as you both shall live？”
 　　“yes.”
　　with their families looking on， i pronounced thomas and donna husband and wife. invoking the power vested in me by the laws of minnesota，

i told them that after 38 years together they could now kiss each other， for the first time， as a married couple.
 　　i was told they did.
　　and later that evening， thomas died.
　　shortly thereafter， i issued my court order， complete with procedural history and legal analysis， directing the licensing bureau to accept and file the wedding license and issue a certificate of marriage.
 　　i have written thousands of orders in my many years as a judge. this was my best.
 　　电话是在明尼苏达州一个闷热的下午大概三点半的时候打来的。Www.11665.COm安养院的社工谢丽尔急匆匆地解释着情况。她已经给十五位法官打过电话了，他们不是在出庭就是抽不出时间。抱着试试看的想法，她直接拨通了我的电话。
 　　我刚处理完一桩棘手的案子，现在正在办公室里被一堆琐碎的司法文件杂物包围着：大量的法律案情摘要和物证。说实话，我本没打算接电话。
　　我想做的只是喝上一杯。
　　然而，那么做会让人觉得这法官欠缺礼数，而法官有时会因为不礼貌而丢掉工作。我还有老婆和两个孩子要养。于是，我努力控制自己的坏脾气，客气地回应谢丽尔。我用自己最平静、最奥利弗·温德尔·霍姆斯式的口吻问她我可以为她做些什么。
 　　她说她需要一位法官为一场紧急的婚礼主持证婚。
　　信不信由你，这可不是这周来的第一个这样的请求。事实上，我经常收到这样的请求，通常涉及豁免原来需要的五天等待期。有时候，如果收到的是那些被突然部署去伊拉克或阿富汗的人的紧急请求，我还会同情他们一下。
 　　但一般来说，我不会让那些人如愿，他们把像婚礼这样的事情放到差不多婚礼正日才来作安排。我对那些带着荒唐、冲动的请求的人所打来的看起来无休无止的电话十分反感。
 　　但是谢丽尔央求着，简直把我的软心肠都给掏出来了。她解释说，她是安养院里配给77岁老人托马斯的社工，托马斯最近被医疗中心的安养院部安排出院，希望在家中离世。他现在意识清醒，头脑还清晰，但他随时都可能死去。
 　　他临终的愿望是能和38年的生活伴侣唐娜结婚。唐娜已经57岁了。多年来，他们一直打算结婚但一直没有抽出时间来举行婚礼。他们甚至都已经走到在市中心的婚姻注册处填写申请这一步了。
 　　这又是一个不负责任地把事情留到生命的最后一刻才干的个案吗？或许如此。但我此刻意识到这已无关紧要了。人就是会做些凡人蠢事。我可以把这事做对。
　　根据法律，结婚双方需亲自在婚姻注册官员面前宣誓，表明他们所提交的申请上的声明真实无误：他们愿意和对方结婚，另外根据明尼苏达州的法律，表明“我们在血缘上疏于隔一代的表亲关系，我们的结合没有法律上的阻碍，我们都没有在生的配偶，并且为一男一女的结合。”
 　　婚姻登记处告诉谢丽尔，他们那里没有人有通过电话颁布紧急许可证的权力，不过她可以找一位法官试试。一般正式的手续是：需经过为期五天的等待期，并且本人亲自到婚姻登记处办理。现在还没有办理紧急临终结婚证的官方程序。
 　　当一个人不厌其烦联系十六位法官的时候，通常有十万火急的事。但是我那天无心判案，而且也不打算为谁做好事。
　　另外，我所在的法院在明尼阿波利斯的市区，离他们家至少二十英里，交通状况最好时也要花上三十分钟才能到他那，而且现在也已经到了下班高峰。托马斯已经快不行了。唯一的选择看来就只有电话婚礼了，不过这就违背了法官应当在婚礼现场的规定。
 　　我的想法是不！不行！我的法庭书记员站在我的办公室门外，其后排了一队人，人数越来越多，其中包括拿着搜查令的探员和上一个案子的律师，他们还不愿意回去。
　　但是好像是背熟了似的，我说道：“好的，好的，我们会尽量尝试，看能不能成功。”
　　你知道吧，我父亲几年前死于肝癌。在他生病期间，我去过芝加哥探望他。我把一个垫子放在他安养院的床下，挨着他睡，握着他的手，这样在他生命的最后时刻我就可以陪在他身边。每个人都认为他也就只剩几个小时的生命了。
 　　后来他恢复过来了，我就飞回到我位于明尼阿波利斯的家继续工作。让我抱憾终生的是，一个星期后，他过世了，我却没在他身边。是我的破安排让他一个人孤独地离开了。
　　想着我的父亲，我做了一些法律咨询，证实了托马斯和唐娜已经获得了结婚许可证，并且他们的家人支持他们结合，这并不是一个企图转移财产的阴谋，而是一场真正、真实的具有人道主义性质的婚礼。
 　　这个婚礼只能通过电话来完成了，而且要尽快。
　　安养院的牧师、新娘以及新郎的家人围绕在托马斯的床边，在他们的见证下，这对新人进行宣誓。在有婚姻注册员在场的情况下，我让他们发誓，表明他们结婚申请上的所有声明都属实。唐娜发誓一切属实并在申请上签了名。托马斯通过紧握安养院工作人员的手表达誓言属实并签了一个“x”。
 　　我拿着话筒，坐在乱糟糟的办公桌旁执行这个仪式，让探员在门外不耐烦地等他的搜查令。
　　“托马斯先生，你愿意娶唐娜女士为你的合法妻子吗？”
　　牧师说，“他抓紧她的手指表示‘愿意。’”
　　“唐娜女士，你愿意托马斯先生成为你的合法丈夫吗？”
　　“愿意。”
　　“你们是否愿意承诺，在你们的有生之年，不论快乐还是悲伤，生病还是健康，不论生活是好是坏，你们都彼此相爱相亲？”
　　“我们愿意。”
　　在他们家人的见证下，我宣布了托马斯和唐娜结为夫妻。运用明尼苏达州法律赋予我的权利，我告诉他们，彼此在一起38年后，他们可以第一次以夫妻的名义亲吻对方。
　　他们告诉我，他们这样做了。
　　那天深夜，托马斯去世了。
　　此后不久，我颁布了包含程序记录和法律分析的法庭命令，要求婚姻登记处接受并存档他们的结婚许可证，并向他们颁发结婚证书。
　　在我多年的法官生涯中，我签署了数以千计的文件。这一个是最好的。