Make a Wish

♪ When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires will come to you. ♪

Ever since we were kids, we learned how to "wish".  The first wish experience usually came with the occasion of our birthday.  After everyone sang "Happy Birthday", our birthday cake was in front of us, with the candles ablaze.  We were told to close our eyes, and to make a silent wish.  Wishing for something that we had wanted to have or something that we wanted to happen.  When we opened our eyes, we took a big breath, and blew out our candles.  If we were able to blow out all the candles in one puff, our wish was expected to come true.  In that moment, we had wished for something special and it was a happy time.  If there were potato chips at the party, we looked for that special "Wish Chip".  The potato chip that was folded over was a special Wish Chip. The finder would make a wish before eating it.

A wish is a hope or a desire for something.  A wish that is kept secret usually has more chances of coming true or being granted.  We are told, "don't tell anyone your wish or it won't come true".  It's usually a secret we keep to ourselves.  The Genie's Lamp and the Wishing Well are exceptions!

As a kid, there were other ways I learned how to make wishes.  For example, when I found a white fluffy dandelion that has gone to seed, I picked it and held it close to my mouth.  I then closed my eyes, made a silent wish, opened my eyes and blew away all the seeds (or spores). If all the seeds were gone, the wish would be granted.

Another way to make a wish:  If an eyelash falls out, put it on the back of the hand, make a wish and throw it over your shoulder. If it flies off the hand the wish will be granted.

I think we've all done this one at some point:  If you make a wish while throwing a coin into a well or fountain, the wish will come true.

This was a favourite thing to do around our house at Thanksgiving and Christmas time:
Two people pull apart the dried breastbone of a chicken or turkey until it cracks and breaks, each one making a wish while doing so. The person who gets the long half of the wishbone will have his or her wish come true.

It's fun to experience the magic of making a wish.  What are you going to wish for?  Just remember the saying - Be careful what you wish for - you might just get it. Wishes do come true but not always in the way we expect them to.

Cheers!

~ Angela Gentile