WRideout
11-03-2016, 10:04 PM
Fishing with Mike
Matthew 19:14
When I lived in Knoxville, TN, my oldest daughter, Suzanne, was friends with Katrina, a girl down the street. The girls were about thirteen then, but Katrina had a younger brother, Michael. Michael was a cute kid with sandy brown hair, and a perennially happy disposition. Katrina and Michael had parents that were not bad, but they didn’t do much with the kids. One year we took Katrina with us on vacation to Florida, just because we wanted to do something nice for her.
But I still wanted to do something for Michael, too. In a moment of weakness, I offered to take him fishing. Well, I put it off, and was beginning to regret having made the offer. After a while I was really eaten up with guilt that I had never followed through, and so I finally made arrangements to borrow a friend’s canoe, and scheduled a day to take Michael to the local lake.
We arrived at the lake with fishing poles, a tub of worms, and high hopes. Michael quickly got the hang of the J-stroke, and we slowly paddled around the edges of a backwater slough, casting bobbers into likely spots. I was a nice, sunny day, and we never caught a single fish. Michael didn’t seem to care at all, he was just happy to be there. We spent the afternoon at the lake, but finally gave up hope of having fish for dinner. We loaded the canoe on top of my aging station wagon, and went home.
Fast forward about ten years. I was living in PA by then, and only saw my kids when I made the long trip back to Knoxville. On one of those visits I went to see my Suzanne at the restaurant where she waited tables. After a little small talk, she said, “you know, Michael, Katrina’s brother, works here too. Do you want to say hi?” So a few minutes later a stocky muscular young man with a short beard came over. “Hello, Mr. Rideout,” he said, then added “Remember that time you took me fishing?” I was taken aback that after all that time, the most memorable thing for him was the day we didn’t catch anything. We chatted for a few minutes, then shook hands, and left.
Kids are so impressionable; any more I try not to pass up an opportunity to be kind to a young person. You just never know what will stick with them later.
Wayne
Matthew 19:14
When I lived in Knoxville, TN, my oldest daughter, Suzanne, was friends with Katrina, a girl down the street. The girls were about thirteen then, but Katrina had a younger brother, Michael. Michael was a cute kid with sandy brown hair, and a perennially happy disposition. Katrina and Michael had parents that were not bad, but they didn’t do much with the kids. One year we took Katrina with us on vacation to Florida, just because we wanted to do something nice for her.
But I still wanted to do something for Michael, too. In a moment of weakness, I offered to take him fishing. Well, I put it off, and was beginning to regret having made the offer. After a while I was really eaten up with guilt that I had never followed through, and so I finally made arrangements to borrow a friend’s canoe, and scheduled a day to take Michael to the local lake.
We arrived at the lake with fishing poles, a tub of worms, and high hopes. Michael quickly got the hang of the J-stroke, and we slowly paddled around the edges of a backwater slough, casting bobbers into likely spots. I was a nice, sunny day, and we never caught a single fish. Michael didn’t seem to care at all, he was just happy to be there. We spent the afternoon at the lake, but finally gave up hope of having fish for dinner. We loaded the canoe on top of my aging station wagon, and went home.
Fast forward about ten years. I was living in PA by then, and only saw my kids when I made the long trip back to Knoxville. On one of those visits I went to see my Suzanne at the restaurant where she waited tables. After a little small talk, she said, “you know, Michael, Katrina’s brother, works here too. Do you want to say hi?” So a few minutes later a stocky muscular young man with a short beard came over. “Hello, Mr. Rideout,” he said, then added “Remember that time you took me fishing?” I was taken aback that after all that time, the most memorable thing for him was the day we didn’t catch anything. We chatted for a few minutes, then shook hands, and left.
Kids are so impressionable; any more I try not to pass up an opportunity to be kind to a young person. You just never know what will stick with them later.
Wayne