Star Light, Star Bright

My mother read nursery rhymes to me and my sister when we were little. Most of them I memorized over time. One that I repeated often was:

Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.

I really believed my first star wishes would come true. Seeing the first star and making a wish became a game, no, a contest, for my sis and me which sometimes included our older brother. The belief was that if you told anyone what your wish was, it wouldn't come true.

I remember teaching the rhyme to my own little ones. Did my grandchildren learn to wish upon a star too? Are they imparting the custom to my great-grands?

It would be many years before I learned that some of those brightest stars were actually planets like Venus pictured here with the new moon last week. I don't know the last time I wished upon the first star, but I still love looking at the sky every night.

Today I'm wishing my granddaughter Alyssa a Happy 31st Birthday. I'm also repeating what one of my doctors used to say everytime in parting - "I wish you well".

In these uncertain times, it is the best wish I can think of to make.....

....I wish you well.