My Father

Someone very dear to me sent the story below just a few minutes ago…as I continue to weep regularly about the loss of my (natural) father – this message was very comforting. You see not only was he the best father I ever knew but he was my friend (#shonuff).  I would call him when I was in trouble, I would call him to share in my joy and happiness, I would call him for advice and I would call him for no reason at all. Haven’t had a friend like that in a long time – I’m weeping now – it’s such an overwhelming loss without some type of pain medication.  I’m going to be alright for I know where my strength in times of sorrow comes from.

The road to this #bus stop was by far one of the worst.   The hills and valleys I had to climb in and out of and try to navigate in the dark was just dreadful.  I kept looking for my father to save me and he was gone from this earth.  I could not believe he had left me here in this place with all this pain – there were so many ripped wounds all over my heart, mind, body and soul.  ER and trauma like blood was oozing out every orifice up and down my body from my scalp to under my toes (metaphorically) I couldn’t manage the pain no matter what I did.  Seemed like all the pain I had ever experienced was now multiplied and wide-open again with the passing of my father.  You see we were like friends, sister and brother, daughter and father.  We had the same thoughts, I could make him shriek in heart felt laughter and I would equally find his statements ridiculously funny.  We could talk for 8 hours straight – ask my mother!  Then one day he was in the hospital and his life was hanging on by minutes he opened his mouth with that breathing apparatus covering his mouth and I couldn’t find one word to say.  I’m so selfish I don’t care that his lungs were gone.  The pain he must have been in, Lord I thank you for taking him and now this war is over for him. #GoodNight Robert Williamson. He’s resting I know that with all my heart

Today I’m determined to remember the man I’ve known as my father all the days of my life with a smile and joy in my heart let the tears fall and let the joy reign again.  With that said here’s the message I received this evening.

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.

He 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.

* Only if you wish, send this to the people you will never forget. If you don’t send it to anyone it may mean that you are in such a hurry that you have forgotten your friends.

TAKE TIME TO LIVE….

To all my friends and loved ones, I WISH YOU ENOUGH.