Post 1000!!!

[missed mallards]

Well gents, I finally made it to the magical number 1000. It didn’t take but a few years, a few stories, and a few hunts but I can honestly say I made it! In my typical fashion, I guess I should honor this milestone with a short story, one that means a lot to me, one that I could learn from, and one that I hope ya’ll enjoy.

Summer is a time I truly enjoy reflecting upon. All of us kids running around the neighborhoods getting ballgames started, fighting, swimming, and oh yes fishing. Mine and my brothers genes where predestinated for us to enjoy the outdoors, having our dads DNA in us, it was rather hard not to. Summer time meant time with pops and my brother on the creek banks, fish ponds, and small lakes trying our hand at landing a few keepers. It was a time all the kids in the neighborhood looked forward too, because Mr. Emmett was going to teach us how to fish.

My dad was a man that I truly looked up too. After all these years I can look back and be extremely proud that I could call him dad. Yes, like many, he had faults but some of the morals that he taught us I will never forget. He started us out at an early age, and looking back his teachings have allowed my brother and me to truly appreciate his ways and what I hope to be the ways he intended.

My family never really had much, and money was something we had very little of. Although we didn’t have much materialistically wise, my dad made up for it by introducing us to the outdoors. It was something that was fairly cheap, fun, and something my dad wanted to allow his boys to experience. I’m not sure how much he had to give up, but he somehow managed to get us out there and teach us something that he felt very strongly about.

The ole man had spent most of his life enjoying the outdoors, and some of it using the land to live on. With two growing boys, and a neighborhood full of wild haired kids running around he felt it fitting that we should all enjoy some of our off time fishing. I can remember it like it was yesterday, the whole crew of 6 or so loading down a single cab, beat up ole ford with smiles from ear to ear. Yep, we were heading to the water.

The fishing trips started out like most. The dad took his kids fishing, they came back and told wild stories and left all the other kids with the desire to go. Well one young gun, my brothers close friend, always met us at the driveway to see the catch, hear the stories, and was more excited about that than anything. One day out of the blue my dad invited the boy to tag along and the excitement in the kid’s eyes is still something I remember vividly, even at such an early age. I can remember that kid loading the truck up like he was going to Disney World and the smile on his face was something that I will never forget.

That day was the first time that kid had ever touched a rod-n-reel. After a few lessons and a few fish on the bank you couldn’t have wiped the smile and joy from his face. As we pulled into the driveway he made a dead heat to his house to pull his parents over to show off his prize, and my dad just smiling as he looked on. The joy, the smile, and the overall experience were something you could never take away from him. Listening him tell his first fish story was in itself an experience and one that my dad wished to pass on.

As time came and went my dad carried a slough of kids fishing, but my brother’s friend had become a regular with their excursions. Every time we/they parked in the driveway, the kids would explode with joy telling friends and parents the story of the fishing trip and my dad always looking on just wearing a smile. It never ceased to amaze me, how much of a joy it was for them to experience something as simple as catching a fish.

A couple of years back my dad passed away due to illness. Truth be told, I took it extremely hard, and with God’s help and support from my brother and family the pain slowly eased. One Saturday afternoon that once young kid called me up and, out of the blue, invited me on a fishing trip. I accepted his offer and met him at our designated place. Pulling in beside him a familiar face I hadn’t seen in years was sitting there, smiling, joyful, and as excited as a kid partaken on his first fishing trip. Shaking it off, I grabbed my pole and tackle box and struck out for the pond hidden in the woods. Arriving at that hole I turned to see that young man smiling and noticed something different about him. I don’t know if it was a twinkle in his eye, a smile, or his posture but something struck me.

That was when it hit me. Like a sack of rocks thrown from the 11th floor of a skyscraper in New York City, I had realized why he invited me. My dad had taken him and allowed him to enjoy something no other would. This was his way of showing me that he truly appreciated my dad taking the time with him to experience it. Fishing was his joy, his happy place, and a place he had shared with my dad and brother for some years.

The moral: it doesn’t take money, fine poles, or materialistic things to make a kid happy. It takes someone that will give up a few minutes of their lives to share their passions, experiences, and knowledge to see that a kid has the opportunity to enjoy it. It’s not what you have; it’s what you do that you’re remembered by. If you get the chance, take a kid out, it may be something that is a true love.

Maybe I went a little overboard for the big 1000 but I figured I’d truly honor someone that allowed me the opportunity to love, live, and enjoy the outdoors like I have. Plus what stories would I put on the net if I didn’t have the outdoors LOL.

[eSJay]

great story! you know how you are always not so sure what to do with your life? Just curious - have you ever considered pursuing a career in writing? Maybe you should. It seems like it's something that you love & comes natural. Just my opinion.
We could definately use someone to replce Bobby Cleveland!

[cwink]

Great story..

[Woodduckdawg]

Wow, that is what it is all about.

[mossyisland]

Another good one Tom!

[Bill Collector]

Great read....... you do have a gift with words

[GrizwalD]

Fantastic story

[Warren]

great story! you know how you are always not so sure what to do with your life? Just curious - have you ever considered pursuing a career in writing? Maybe you should. It seems like it's something that you love & comes natural. Just my opinion.
We could definately use someone to replce Bobby Cleveland!

I know Tom could do better than ol Bobby.

[eSJay]

great story! you know how you are always not so sure what to do with your life? Just curious - have you ever considered pursuing a career in writing? Maybe you should. It seems like it's something that you love & comes natural. Just my opinion.
We could definately use someone to replce Bobby Cleveland!

I know Tom could do better than ol Bobby.

NO DOUBT!

[KillZone]

hope i get there soon.. haha

[fowlminded]

GREAT STORY... and a life lesson.