Enough

A friend of mine sent me this story. I don't know if it's true, but I really was touched by it. Looking back on my life so far, I see that's what God has given me - enough - love, friends, joy, pain to fully appreciate His world.

Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments

together at the airport. They had announced the departure.
Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, 'I love you
and I wish you enough'.
The daughter replied, 'Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your
love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom'.
They kissed and the daughter left.

The mother walked over to the window where
I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried
not to intrude on her privacy but she 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,' she said.

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

She began to smile. 'That's a wish that has been handed down from other
generations. My parents used to say it to everyone'. She paused a moment and
looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she 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, she shared the following as if she 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.
She then began to cry and walked away.

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.