FISH! Tales
Fishing Fixed Us
Some eight-teen plus years ago, I left an abusive marriage. My adult son was about seven years old then. As with most kids, divorce is traumatic for them. My Danny was no different.
Add to the divorce, our move across the country to a place I felt offered a higher quality of life. Danny was despondent, sad and slowly turning into himself. His grades plummeted and he was a sad, lonely little boy.
I didn't know what to do and felt absolutely helpless in that I couldn't seem to reach him. A wise old man suggested, "Get that boy a rod and reel and get him on a bank."
After picking out probably the most inappropriate set of poles, hooks etc. at Walmart, we set out for the wise old man's private lake. I was lucky, we were distant kin and he gave me a key for free.
It took a few trips. And, it sure wasn't easy with two kids, one still a toddler, and just me but I pursued. Slowly, my Danny began to open up and talk. Sometimes we just sat and fished. Sometimes we had some of the most poignant conversations of our lives.
We're still not experts but to this day both of my boys, Danny 24 and David 18, still enjoy time fishing with their mama. And, we still have some of our best talks on the bank. We have a bass boat now but sometimes we just need to hit the bank and set a while. Other times we just sit. We've had some of the most heartfelt conversations of our lives on the water.
Fishing fixed us then and helps keeps us close now.
Trish
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I didn't know what to do and felt absolutely helpless in that I couldn't seem to reach him. A wise old man suggested, "Get that boy a rod and reel and get him on a bank."
After picking out probably the most inappropriate set of poles, hooks etc. at Walmart, we set out for the wise old man's private lake. I was lucky, we were distant kin and he gave me a key for free.
It took a few trips. And, it sure wasn't easy with two kids, one still a toddler, and just me but I pursued. Slowly, my Danny began to open up and talk. Sometimes we just sat and fished. Sometimes we had some of the most poignant conversations of our lives.
We're still not experts but to this day both of my boys, Danny 24 and David 18, still enjoy time fishing with their mama. And, we still have some of our best talks on the bank. We have a bass boat now but sometimes we just need to hit the bank and set a while. Other times we just sit. We've had some of the most heartfelt conversations of our lives on the water.
Fishing fixed us then and helps keeps us close now.
Trish
