Memories are funny things, you know, because I don't remember anything from the time we pulled out of Granddad's driveway until we were in that metal tin can of a boat way out in the middle of a gigantic lake. But I most surely do remember Granddad ordering Daddy not to put his hook in the water ... I most surely do remember Granddad insisting that I would catch my first fish that day. There was no discussion, no arguing, no debate ... I was to catch my first fish that day and if I didn't, no one else would be catching any fish either. I will always remember sitting on that boat in the hot summer sun with two of the men I loved most in this world. Fish or no fish, I was most definitely in little girl heaven that day.
It turned out that I did catch my first fish that day ... a big fat brown fish that we took home so that Granny could fry it up for dinner. I can't say for sure who was more excited when I reeled that fish in until the line was close enough for Daddy to grab it ... Granddad, Daddy or me. Me catching my first fish was certainly a big deal to all of us, but looking back, I think it was Granddad who got the biggest kick out of me somehow managing to get that fish on the hook and out of the water. Granddad wasn't big on smiling and laughing, but he giggled like a little kid that day as he showed me how to get my first fish off the hook ... he was one happy grandfather that day.
A couple of weeks ago when Matt, Becca and my grandgals were in town, we took the girls to a farmstead where they fed baby goats, rode a pony and mined for shiny rocks. But the best of the best that day was when I taught Coraline how to fish. I may or may not have gagged a few times, but I reached into the small bucket of worms and grabbed one and put it on the hook. When she's older, I'll tell my little grandpal how that if anything proves how much I love her, it's the fact that I put worms on a fishhook for her. I showed her how to hold the cane pole in her little hands and explained that she would be able to feel a fish if it grabbed the bait. Much to my surprise, it was only a couple of minutes before the cane pole moved and the bobber went below the water. I was even more surprised when I helped Coraline pull the line out of the water to find that she had indeed caught a fish. I'll never forget the look on her face or the emotion that washed over me ... my little granddaughter caught her first fish the first time she ever went fishing with her Ghee.
As Becca snapped some photos of Coraline, her fish and me, I knew that something super special and important had happened that sunny Friday morning in Kansas ... something far more special and important than Coraline catching her first fish. In the few short minutes that it took for me to bait the hook, show Coraline how to toss the line in the water and the fish to chow down on the worm, we made a memory that will last a lifetime. As I held the wiggling fish in my hand so that she could touch it, I couldn't help but think of how very different things could have been. I couldn't help but think about how close I came to missing my precious little granddaughters. I couldn't help but think about how those two little girls don't have to be taught to love me ... they just do.
There's an old Chinese proverb that says, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." I'm the one who learned a huge lesson that day standing on the dusty banks of the pond with my little granddaughter watching her catch her first fish, my friends ... indeed I did.
A couple of weeks ago when Matt, Becca and my grandgals were in town, we took the girls to a farmstead where they fed baby goats, rode a pony and mined for shiny rocks. But the best of the best that day was when I taught Coraline how to fish. I may or may not have gagged a few times, but I reached into the small bucket of worms and grabbed one and put it on the hook. When she's older, I'll tell my little grandpal how that if anything proves how much I love her, it's the fact that I put worms on a fishhook for her. I showed her how to hold the cane pole in her little hands and explained that she would be able to feel a fish if it grabbed the bait. Much to my surprise, it was only a couple of minutes before the cane pole moved and the bobber went below the water. I was even more surprised when I helped Coraline pull the line out of the water to find that she had indeed caught a fish. I'll never forget the look on her face or the emotion that washed over me ... my little granddaughter caught her first fish the first time she ever went fishing with her Ghee.
As Becca snapped some photos of Coraline, her fish and me, I knew that something super special and important had happened that sunny Friday morning in Kansas ... something far more special and important than Coraline catching her first fish. In the few short minutes that it took for me to bait the hook, show Coraline how to toss the line in the water and the fish to chow down on the worm, we made a memory that will last a lifetime. As I held the wiggling fish in my hand so that she could touch it, I couldn't help but think of how very different things could have been. I couldn't help but think about how close I came to missing my precious little granddaughters. I couldn't help but think about how those two little girls don't have to be taught to love me ... they just do.
There's an old Chinese proverb that says, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." I'm the one who learned a huge lesson that day standing on the dusty banks of the pond with my little granddaughter watching her catch her first fish, my friends ... indeed I did.
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