Werner Ulrich's Home Page:  Ulrich's Bimonthly

Formerly "Picture of the Month"

January-February 2012

"Wishing you enough!"  As we face a new year, we wish one another well and hope that it will be a happy year. But what do we really mean? To be sure, we mean a year that spares those we love and appreciate misfortune of all kinds, be it grave illness or accidents, pain, separation from or even loss of dear people, natural disasters, professional failures, existential worries, and so on. Moreover, it is of course also normal that we all hope that some of our wishes will come true. However, not all wishes are of equal importance. Finding out what makes us truly happy may be one of the most challenging questions in life. But if we can't tell what wishes are essential and which ones may not be so essential, what should we really wish one another?

Some months ago, a befriended couple in England sent me an email message that comes as close to an answer as anything that I have read or heard. It is a modest little story, but a meaningful one. The beginning of a new year provides an excellent opportunity to share it with the visitors of my site, I think. Unfortunately, I do not know for sure who is or are the original author(s) of the story; I will quote the most likely source at the end but should point out that similar texts can be found in the Web that are dated earlier. Should the original author(s) happen to read this Bimonthly one day, I hope s/he or they will let me know. In any case, I trust they will find that I put the story to good use by sharing it with you. Here it is, in slightly abridged and edited form.

For a hyperlinked overview of all issues of "Ulrich's Bimonthly" and the previous "Picture of the Month" series, see the site map

To all those whom I appreciate and to all visitors of this web site

« Recently I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. The plane's departure had already been announced.

Standing near the security gate, the two 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?"

"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. "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, and
a day to love them;
but then, an entire life to forget them.»

(Text adapted from the following source:
Bob Perks, I Wish You Enough: Embracing Life's Most Valuable Moments One Wish at a Time. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009.)

I wish you "enough" for 2012!

* * *

Picture data  Digital photograph taken on 26 December 2010 around 2:30 p.m. ISO 320, exposure mode manual; aperture f/11.0, exposure time 1/640 seconds, exposure bias 0; focal length 28 mm (equivalent to 45 mm with a conventional 35 mm camera); metering mode center-weighted average, contrast low, saturation normal, sharpness low. Original resolution 5184 x 3456 pixels; current resolution 700 x 525 pixels, compressed to 185 KB.

„Wishing you Enough for 2012!”

(From the story reported in this page)

Notepad for capturing personal thoughts  »

Last updated 22 Jun 2014 (title layout), 1 Jan 2012 (text); first published 1 Jan 2012
http://wulrich.com/bimonthly_january2012.html