Whizzzz! I reel in the fish that I’ve been looking for for days. “Get over here, ya rascal! Almost gotcha, almost. Ha! Gotcha.” As I look at the fish, it brings back a memory in my mind that I could never forget.
50 years ago…
“Grandpa! Grandpa! Look what I got!” I said as I jumped for joy after I caught my first bass. It seemed like the biggest fish in that pond. My grandpa walked over, grabbing my rod and unhooking the fish, twisting his hand, and untying knots.
“Good job, boy. Now let me make your picture for your mama.” The shutter of the camera clicked, but there was no flash.“Oh, this darn old thing! Okay, well, let’s try that again.” The camera flashed like a beam of sunlight, blinding me temporarily. “All right, now we can keep fishin’ until the sun is down, but then we gotta go shuck some horse poop,” he said as the low, setting sun reflected off of his shiny blue fishing rod.
“Grampaaa!” I said as I rolled my eyes and cast out another line. “I don’t want to!”
“Boy, quit your whining. The sun ain’t even set yet, enjoy the present instead of worryin’ about what you gotta do in the future.”
Present day…
“Grandpa! Grandpa!” My granddaughter comes running up to me. “I found a worm!”
“That’s so cool, sweetie, but you know what you could do with that worm?” I say, pulling out my tackle box.
“What? What? Can I eat it?” she says, dangling the upside-down worm, with her arm extended out all the way.
“No, silly. Come here, sit.” I say, patting the bench I’m sitting on.
“Grandpa, what is that blue, sparkly stick you’re holding?” she says, pointing to my fishing rod.
“It’s called a fishing rod. Do you want to learn how to use it?”
“Yeah! Show me!” she says, jumping for joy.
After showing her the basics of fishing, I see the sun starting to set behind her. “Okay, now, after the sun sets, we have to go and clean up for your mama,” I say, packing up my bait.
“No, I don’t want to!” she says, whining.
“Girl, stop whining. The sun hasn’t even set yet. Enjoy the present instead of worrying about what you gotta do in the future.”
I cast out my line into the pond, and listened as the crickets and toads reminded me of the person I always wanted to be.
