I WISH YOU WELL

                  My late friend sent me a letter while I was still in high school and I thought I should share it with you. It was actually the last one he wrote me before he passed on sometime last year. Here it goes:

My friend,

I wish you well. May the flame that tempers the bright steel of your youth never die, but burn always; so that when your work is done and your long day has ended, you may still be like a watchman’s fire at the end of a lonely road-loved and cherished for your gracious glow by all wayfarers who need light in their darkness and warmth for their comfort.

The spirit of wonder and adventure, the token of immortality was given to you as a child. May you keep it forever, with that in your heart which always seeks the gold beyond the rainbow, the pastures beyond the desert, the dawn beyond the sea, the light beyond the dark.

May you seek always and strive always in good faith and high courage, in this world where men grow so tired.

Keep your power to receive everything; only learn to select what your instinct tells you is right.

Keep your love of life but throw away your fear of death. Life must be loved or it is lost; but it should never be loved too well.

Keep your delight in friendship; only learn to know your friends.

Keep your intolerance-only save it for what your heart says is bad.

Keep your wonder at great and noble things like sunlight and thunder, the rain and the stars, the wind and the sea, the growth of trees and the return of harvests, and the greatness of heroes.

Keep your heart hungry for new knowledge; keep your hatred of a lie; and keep your power of indignation.

In thought, as a last benediction, I hug you tight. Good night to you-and good morning and a clear dawn.

Today is his memorial. I can not exactly ascertain the originality of the letter but it’s one of the things I read every day when I wake and just gives me the focus.