One of my favorite genres of literature is the short story. The greatest short stories to me are those which I want to read over and over again, and of which I never tire.

When I was a student in Kenneth Venable’s junior English class at Horace Maynard High School, he assigned us Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment.” The story is about a doctor who supposedly had water from the Fountain of Youth. He invited some of his friends to partake of the water to study its effects on them.

The doctor’s friends got younger and younger as they drank more and more of the water. My favorite quote from the entire story is:

“We are younger—but we are still too old! Quick—give us more!”

I ask you, Dear Reader, when is there all in plenty? Conversely, consider—is there ever plenty without all? When is plenty not enough? When is all just enough?

The Sunday School book our class uses contained a discussion of the term “parental math” (Bible Studies for Life: Senior Adults KJV Personal Study Guide Winter 2024-25 12:2, 159). Parents of many children often feel that no matter how many of their children are present at a gathering or family functioning, it’s never enough if not all the children are present.

There are some times in life that almost is never enough. Consider some examples.

My father was born on February 24, 1914. Dad had a brother that was born a little more than a year and a half later. When Dad was nine, his younger brother Fred was kicked to death by a mule, a little over a month before he would have turned eight. I have a black and white photograph of this uncle I was never to know when he was “laid out” in death on top of his coffin.

I was told that my grandmother kept a colorized copy of that photograph of my deceased ancestor in an oval picture frame with bubble glass. I was told his mother kept the picture hanging on her wall as long as she was able to keep house. Upon her death, this relic was carefully kept in storage by her daughter, my Aunt Vallie Mincey Lay, until her death. The picture was passed to my youngest sister Marie, who passed it on to me a few years ago.

Though Grandmother Mary Katherine Nicely Mincey had five other children of her own, and six stepchildren, she practiced “parental math,” where plenty without all was not enough. This was evidenced by the picture hanging on her wall so she could see it every day, lest she forget. No one could take his place in her heart.

This same thing has happened to many families over the years. Many families have yearly reunions, or gatherings to celebrate special occasions. Though new marriages and births result in an ever-widening family circle, there are those who are no longer alive who can never be replaced.

Even sadder are those families that, in spite of additions by marriage and birth, whose gatherings get smaller each year due to geographical and other distances that keep families apart.

The same is true of friendships. It seems friends are loaned to us for a while, but rarely does it seem possible to keep a friend for life. The loss leaves a void that no other friend, no matter how precious, can fill.

And love. Those we love are on loan to us, but not always for the duration of life.

It’s to these truths that we can understand the words of songs such as the tearjerker “Some Broken Hearts Never Mend,” sung so beautifully by Don Williams, and the peppier “Too Much Is Not Enough (Of Your Love, Love, Love)” recorded by the Bellamy Brothers.

And let’s not forget another song popularized by Daryle Singletary, “Too Much Fun.”

Too much fun, what’s that mean?
It’s like too much money, there’s no such thing
It’s like a girl too pretty with too much class
Being too lucky, a car too fast
No matter what they say, I’ve done
But I ain’t never had too much fun

Here’s wishing you, Dear Reader, a lot of the good stuff, even if there can never be enough. As they used to sing at the end of every episode of Hee Haw: “May your pleasures be many, your troubles be few.”

Answer to Question of the Week # 51
What happened to the guy who sued the airline for losing his luggage? (Answer: He lost his case.)

Question of the Week # 52
According to San Banducci, when does old age come? (See next week’s article in historicunioncounty.com for the answer.)