Her mother said "I love you, I wish you enough."
Diana said, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom."
They kissed good-bye and Diana went through security. Standing there I could see 'Mom' wanted and needed to cry.
I suspected what 'Diana' was going through, but didn't want to intrude on her private moment with her Mom. Mom must have sensed my sympatico, my curiosity about the scene I had just witnessed. She made eye contact with me, asking "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?"
"Yes, I have," I replied. Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and appreciation for all my Mom had done for me. Recognizing that her days were limited, I took the time to tell her face to face how much she meant to me. So I knew what this woman was experiencing. "Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?" I asked.
The woman replied "I am old and my daughter lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral, " she said.
Understandable, certainly, but what about the women's final exchange? I asked "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 for a moment and looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, she 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," she continued, and 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.
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 "Hello's" to get you through the final "Good-bye.."
"Enough."
Thank you, I said.
photo courtesy of a.dipaco, flickr
