FISH’S LAST FISHING TRIP
You met Fish last year in this column. He is now 90 years old and still fishing as much as possible.
It is early on a Memorial Day morning. Like last year, Fish is alone in his old 1960 aluminum boat. He still misses his wife and son. Both are in heaven now. He still doesn’t see his other kids and grandkids much. They are busy with their lives. A younger fishing buddy, in his late 70’s, still goes fishing with him sometimes. Most of the time, it is just Fish.
His old, wrinkled hands still struggle to tie on a crappie jig. It takes him a little longer than it did last year. He uses that same rod and reel his wife bought him long ago. He knows where the crappie will be. They have always been there. His first crappie of the day is clipped to his fish stringer and hung over the side of the boat.
By 10 am, he has his last limit of crappie. He smiles and thanks God for his last day on the water. A tear runs down his cheek. His doctor has told him that the cancer has spread throughout his body. He has, maybe, six more months to live. He sits in his boat thinking. If it is time to leave this world, he wishes it could be right here on the water crappie fishing rather than at some hospital or nursing home.
He still wonders why he got to come back home from war when so many did not. He has never talked much about what it was like. No one knows what he saw. The blood. The wounds. The bodies. They do not hear the bombs, the bullets, or the screaming. Fish keeps it hidden. Another tear rolls down his cheek. He wipes it away and starts the old motor.
When he gets home and pulls into his driveway, the old veteran stops to look at the American flag proudly flying on a pole in his front yard. It is there every day, not just Memorial Day.
Memorial Day afternoon Fish puts on his Army Veteran cap. I put on my Navy Veteran cap. We spend time at the graves of his wife and son. He tells them he loves them. He tells them he will be joining them soon.
Later, we go to the local military cemetery to honor those who served our country. Fish salutes each one he knows, says “Thank you, God bless you, and I will be seeing you soon.”
He wonders if people will still take the time to thank veterans for serving when they see them wearing their Veterans Branch of Service cap. He wonders if anyone will come to his grave on Memorial Day. I am his fishing buddy. I told him that I will be there.
What will you be doing on Memorial Weekend? Will you be fishing, camping, playing in the water, or enjoying a backyard cookout?
Please take time to thank the men and women who served our country. Go to the cemetery and thank those who gave their lives so you can have the freedoms you have.
Remember men like Fish who just went on his last fishing trip.
