I Wish You Enough....

"I Wish You Enough.... "

At an airport I overheard a father and
daughter in their last moments together. They had
announced her plane's departure and standing near
the door she said, "Daddy, our life together has
been more than enough. Your love is all I ever
needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy."

They kissed good-bye and she left. He walked
over toward the window where I was seated. Standing
there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I
tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed
me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to
someone knowing it would be forever?"

"Yes, I have. Forgive me for asking, but why
is this a forever good-bye?" I asked.

"I am old and she lives much too far away. I
have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next
trip back will be for my funeral," he said.

"When you were saying good-bye I heard you
say, 'I wish you enough'. May I ask what that
means?"

He began to smile. "That's a wish that has been
handed down from other generations. My parents
used to say it to everyone." He paused a moment and
looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, he
smiled even more. "When we said 'I wish you enough',
we were wanting the other person to have a life
filled with enough good things to sustain them." He
continued and then, turning toward me, he shared the
following as if he were reciting it from memory:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude
bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun
more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your
spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the
smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you
enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you
enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I
wish enough 'Hellos' to get you through the final
'Good-bye'.

He then began to sob and walked away.

My friends and loved ones, I wish you
ENOUGH!!!

They say, "It takes a minute to find a special person,
an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them,
but then an entire lifetime to forget them."

I Wish You Enough!
Received on Sun Apr 25 14:08:28 2004