I Wish You Enough
Recently,
I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together at the
airport. They had announced the final call for her departure and
standing
near the
security gate, they hugged and he said, “I will always love you and I
wish you enough.” 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 and
she turned and walked into the hall toward the plane. The father walked
over
toward the large window where I was seated with the hope of getting one
last glimpse of his daughter. Standing there I could see that he not
only wanted to,
but 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.
Saying that brought back precious memories I had of expressing my love
and appreciation for all that my Dad had done for me.
Recognizing that his days were limited, I explicitly took the time to
tell him face to face how much he meant to me. So I
honestly knew what this man was asking.
Yet, I was curious as to why this man would ask me this.
“Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?” I asked. He replied, “I am not in good health and she lives very far away. I have serious
physical challenges ahead and the reality is, the next trip back would probably be for my funeral.” I was also intrigued by this man’s other comment to his
daughter so I asked, “When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough’. May I ask what that means?” A gentle, soothing smile began to
cross his face. “That's a wish that has been handed down from generation to generation in our family. I remember vividly my parents saying it to the
members of our family and to anyone else who came their way.” He paused for a moment and looking up as if trying to recreate the moment 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 just enough good things to sustain them but not so
much that they lose their passion for life,” he continued, and then turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.
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“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 and lastly, I wish enough ‘Hellos’ to get you through the
final ‘Good-bye.’ He then began to sob as
he turned and walked away. As I watched
this
wise man leave, I was left with a deep sense of awe.
I had just experienced enough genuine love to give me hope and
yet enough heart felt sorrow to remind me
of the need for that hope. <
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< style="font-family: times new roman;">And
now I wish us all enough…