“Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart.”
—VÁCLAV HAVEL

This is my mother, Dora, throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome in 1963.

Dora sat by the fountain, a glimmer of hope in her heart as she prepared to make her wish. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the coin sailing across her shoulder into the darkness of the water below, its destination unseen and unknown to her.

In 1963, the tradition went like this, ‘Toss the coin and you’re assured a return trip to Rome’.

Yet, knowing my mother, I realize her aspirations went beyond a trip back to Rome. Wishing, to her, transcended mere prophecy or hope, it represented something more magical.

What was she wishing for, as she cast her coin into the fountain’s depths? I will never know exactly but I can make my best guess.

She had just gotten married again the year before– surely she wished for a happy marriage.

*The very plane that carried Dora from Houston to Amsterdam on that day in 1963.*

She was starting to achieve some professional success, working in the export department of a geophysical company, having earned what surely must have been one of her first ‘perks’.

A free trip on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines' inaugural flight from Houston to Amsterdam. I bet she wished for many more trips like these.

And maybe, tucked away in her wishes was one about her only son– me.

Wishing me well. Well, Mom, it worked! I am well–– your wish came true!

As she made those wishes into the Trevi Fountain, my mother wasn’t looking behind her to see where her wish would land, even though she sat in front of one of the world’s most glorious sites.

The Trevi Fountain

Built upon an ancient water source, the fountain was constructed in the 1700’s.

Rather, she is looking forward, smiling as she tosses her wish. Joyful, not at the splendor behind her, but blissfully looking forward into the void. Her own terra incognita, or ‘unknown land’.

A wish is like a whisper to the universe, for a gift wrapped in ‘not yet’ or perhaps ‘maybe never’. It’s a coin toss, neither heads nor tails, both at once, a swirling uncertainty like Schrodinger's cat.

Only time will tell if the wish will live or die, but for that one moment as the coin descends into the depths of the fountain, it is neither one nor the other.

With each wish, we remind ourselves that we are okay living in such a world, and we’ll take our chances.

The renowned Czech writer and former president of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel, described hope in a way that mirrors the essence of wishes.

They’re not about foreseeing the future; instead, they’re like a needle on our compass, guiding the spirit and the heart.

This is why we hope and wish. Wishes serve as gentle nudges, guiding us back to our own ‘true North’.

Making a wish is like stealing a glance at your own personal compass, reminding you of where you want to go. Take care to let yourself wish. It’s a lost art yet it holds tremendous power.

Every now and then…not often… not hardly ever… but sometimes…

Wishes can come true.

It takes a dash of courage and a sprinkle of madness to live your life in the reflected light of a wish. It's a daring kind of optimism, akin to a potent brandy. A sip warms your stomach, but too much gives you a headache.

Just as coins tossed over our mother's shoulder, we soar through life from one day to the next, not yet knowing or seeing where we will land, yet still, the magic of well wishes guide us onward.

© Ray Brimble and stringtheorybyraybrimble.com, 2024. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ray Brimble and stringtheorybyraybrimble.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

My Mother's Wishes