I wish you enough!

This is a beautiful story that I stumbled upon.

"I wish you enough!"©
By Bob Perks
Contact Bob

I never really thought that I'd spend as much time in airports as I do. I don't know why. I always wanted to be famous and that would mean lots of travel. But I'm not famous, yet I do see more than my share of airports.

I love them and I hate them. I love them because of the people I get to watch. But they are also the same reason why I hate airports. It all comes down to "hello" and "goodbye."I must have mentioned this a few times while writing my stories for you.

I have great difficulties with saying goodbye. Even as I write this I am experiencing that pounding sensation in my heart. If I am watching such a scene in a movie I am affected so much that I need to sit up and take a few deep breaths. So when faced with a challenge in my life I have been known to go to our local airport and watch people say goodbye. I figure nothing that is happening to me at the time could be as bad as having to say goodbye.

Watching people cling to each other, crying, and holding each other in that last embrace makes me appreciate what I have even more. Seeing them finally pull apart, extending their arms until the tips of their fingers are the last to let go, is an image that stays forefront in my mind throughout the day.

On one of my recent business trips, when I arrived at the counter to check in, the woman said, "How are you today?" I replied, "I am missing my wife already and I haven't even said goodbye."

She then looked at my ticket and began to ask, "How long will you...Oh, my God. You will only be gone three days!" We all laughed. My problem was I still had to say goodbye.

But I learn from goodbye moments, too.

Recently I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her departure and standing near the security gate, they hugged and he said, "I love you. I wish you enough." She in turn 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 left. He walked over toward 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 goodbye 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 Dad had done for me. Recognizing that his days were limited, I took the time to tell him face to face how much he meant to me.

So I knew what this man experiencing.

"Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever goodbye?" I asked.

"I am old and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, the next trip back would be for my funeral," he said.

"When you were saying goodbye 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 for a moment and looking up as if trying to remember it 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," he continued and 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.
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 "Goodbye."

He then began to sob and walked away.

My friends, I wish you enough!
by Bob Perks

To all my friends, old and new, to my family and others too: I wish you enough. Merry Christmas and all the best for a wonderful new year.

Virginia Trip - the departure

I arrived at Thurgood Marshall BWI Airport around 8:20 tonight, and I was surprised. The security area was empty – completely. I was surprised. I mean this is after all among the most traveled times of the year. I breezed through security in a flash. I entered the gate area and there was people everywhere.. Just not at security. This is a welcome and refreshing surprise.

So I got to my gate and found a seat and sat down. Checking out the scene I saw a shortie or two, including one that I almost broke my neck to see. Turns out the shortie was a bit on the old side and looked like hard life slammed into him with the force of a ton of bricks.

The flight was delayed, but only slightly. The plane arrived at the time it was supposed to be departing. Fortunately there weren’t too many passengers deplaning, so we started boarded within a few minutes. We pulled back from the gate at 9:38, and were cleared for take off 8 minutes later. At 9:48 we were airborne.

The flight was smooth, and we landed at 10:19 on the dot. It was a beautiful flight. I got my rental car and headed to my destination.

Heading to the Airport

I'll be heading to Thurgood Marshall BWI Airport shortly. I'm flying to Virginia Beach for my daughter's birthday. So far, it appears that all is well, but I am going to check with Southwest's website about the flight status before I leave.

Although my flight leaves at 9:20, I want to get there early, just in case there are long lines going through the security checkpoints.

If you're flying have a great trip!

Sad Day at Southwest Airlines

I was on my way home from running errands and stuff when I heard Anderson Cooper on CNN talking about the accident last night. I didn't really pay much attention to it, but I heard all about it on the news this morning.

Apparently, the jetliner was cleared to land at Chicago's Midway airport, which at the time was under heavyy snowfall. They had circled for 30-35 minutes before landing. At this point, it's not clear whether or not the runway was fully prepared for the landing. Officials say it had been plowed, but it's not clear yet how long it was cleared before the jet attempted to land. My prayers go out to the family of little Joshua who lost his life. May they find comfort in their time of grief.

I called Southwest this morning to check to see if my flight tonight has been delayed, and fortunately, it is still on time as of now. There were some delays leaving Baltimore this morning because of the weather, but the latest delay was only ten minutes. Other than that, the streets are mostly clear this morning. They finally started clearing the steps and walkways in my development when I was leaving the house at 10:15 this morning. Apart from some slush on Little Patuxent Parkway/175, from what I saw, most of the streets were clear; very, very clear.

Many thanks to the road crews that worked tirelessly throughout the night to make the roads safe for us.

Up in New York, things are not as rosy, however. I spoke to my Dad, who works for the state Department of Transportation, and he had to go in to work at 2 a.m. He works with road crews to clear the streets and keep the roads safe, so I completely understand what road crews go through. I pray he will be safe as it continues to snow.

What has been your snow experience? Was it good or bad?

I have had two bad experiences with icy roads. One was in Virginia Beach a few years ago, when we had a major snow storm and on driving home my car hit an ice patch and slid into a parked vehicle. The funny thing is, when these things happen, it seems like the vehicle takes on a life of its own, and there's nothing you can really do to stop it, no matter how hard you try.

The second incident happened not far from home here in Columbia. I was heading to work when the car ahead of me and to the right suddenly turned 90 degrees and started sliding towards me. In response, not realizing that it was an ice patch that she hit, I switched lanes, trying to get away from it. I hit the same patch and my car did the same thing, and slid into hers. We weren't injured, fortunately, but there was significant damage to my car. I don't remember about hers.

The Police came to the scene shortly after and took our information and determined that it was a no fault weather related accident, but for whatever reason, this was not enough for the other party, who I later learned from a letter sent to me by my insurance company, tried to get them to pay for her damage. The insurance company told her quite politely to stick it, as it was clear that no-one was at fault, and she needed to contact her own insurance carrier.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm leaving tonight to go play daddy. My little punkin is turning 9 on Sunday, and I have a party to host. Wish me luck.

Make it a safe and wonderful weekend.

Rich

NBA: Wizards 105 Toronto 105

Game going into overtime.

NBA: Washington 104/Toronto 100

19.4 Seconds remaining in the game.

Trying my hand at something new

I'm going to try this Rent My Blog thing, to see how it works. If you have travel stories and/or stories of interest to travellers, then please let me know. I'd rather have interesting stories posted here than to have the blog sitting stale for weeks at a time. Ok? Great!