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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Family & Friends
- Subject: Aging / Maturity
- Published: 03/18/2019
At an airport I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her plane’s departure and standing near the door, he said to his daughter, “I love you, I wish you luck.”
She said, “Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you luck, too, Daddy.” They kissed goodbye 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 was experiencing.
“Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?” I asked.
“I am old and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral, ” he said.
“When you were saying goodbye I heard you say, ‘I wish you peace.’ 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 peace,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them, because, we both were by her mother when she died, and we’ve promised each other to stand together and embrace the positive moments in life. ”
He then began to sob and walked away.
Sunshine After Rain(Nathan)
At an airport I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her plane’s departure and standing near the door, he said to his daughter, “I love you, I wish you luck.”
She said, “Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you luck, too, Daddy.” They kissed goodbye 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 was experiencing.
“Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?” I asked.
“I am old and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral, ” he said.
“When you were saying goodbye I heard you say, ‘I wish you peace.’ 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 peace,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them, because, we both were by her mother when she died, and we’ve promised each other to stand together and embrace the positive moments in life. ”
He then began to sob and walked away.
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Kevin Hughes
03/18/2019Sad , but lovely. In a world where folks can, and do, live hundreds, even thousands of miles across oceans from the families they were born into...this story rings true.
Smiles, Kevin
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