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I
Wish You Enough
Recently I overheard a Father and daughter in their last moments together at the
airport. They had announced the departure. Standing near the security gate, they
hugged and the Father said, ‘I love you, and I wish you enough.’
The daughter replied, ‘Dad, our life together has been more than enough. Your
love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Dad.’ They kissed and the
daughter left.
The Father walked over to 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,” I replied. “Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever
good-bye?”
“I am old, and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is
— the 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
looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and he smiled even more. “When
we said, ‘I wish you enough; we were wanting the other person to have a life
filled with just enough good things to sustain them.” 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 no matter how gray the day
may appear. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more. I wish you
enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear
bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.”
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 life to forget them.
Remember to tell your family and friends that you wish them enough!
To all of you reading this, I wish you enough.
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