He Chose To Take Me To One Of His Most Favorite Fishing Holes. It Was In A River Directly Behind A Meat Packing Company. They Slaughtered Cows And Hogs There. It Is My Recolection That Some Of The Remnants Of The Carcasses Went Into This River. This Is One Very Good Reason Why Fishing There Was So Good.
He Introduced To Me The Family Recipe Of Dough Ball To Catch Carp. If You Know Anything About Carp You Know It's Not The Most Popular Fish To Eat. However If Prepared Correctly It Can Be Very Tasty. I Have On One Occasion And That Was Enough For Me. However There Were People Who Lived In Poverty That Did Eat Carp And Would Be Willing To Pay You A Little For Your Catch. It Was Primarily Catch And Release Of The Carp With My Grandpa. He Did However Fish For Catfish And He Did Take Them Home For Dinner.
He Told Me If I Could Land A Carp I Could Land Anything. They Are Considered The Most Ferocious Fighting Fish In The River Or Lake. I Caught My First Carp On The River That First Time He Took Me. He Let Me Take My Fish And The Ones He Caught Home With Me So I Could Sell Them To The Poor People. I Didn't Make Much Money Of Course But It Was Enough To By Candy Or Pop At The Corner Gas Station. I Would Haul Them Around The Neighborhood With My Father's Wheelbarrow Until I Had Them All Sold. He Later Taught Me How To Make The Family Recipe Dough Ball Made Especially For Carp. It Was Made Out Of Cornmeal. I Swore To Secrecy That I Would Never Reveal The Contents. Even Though I Did Hand This Down To My Son I Had Told Nobody Else.
I Have Many Fond Memories Of Fishing With Him As Well As My Other Uncles On My Mother's Side. The Very Last Time I Fished With Him Was Just A Week Before He Entered Into The Hospital Which Diagnosed Him Of Having Lung Cancer. It Was The River That Flowed Through Ellsworth Park. It Was Just A Coincidence That He Was Fishing At The Same Time I Decided To Go Myself. I Think We Were Both As Surprised To See Each Other That Day. It Was A Terrible Day For Fishing But Never Were You Guaranteed To Bring Home Fish. Lots Of Times It Gave You An Opportunity To Relax And Realize What Mattered Most In Life.
There Was A Moment In My Life When Things Really Didn't Matter Much To Me. I Was Depressed And Not Sure Of My Future.
He Said Something To Me That Stuck With Me Many Years Later. He Told Me No Matter How Bad Things Look Today, Someday You Will Look Back At It. He Was Right! On Many Occasions When I Was Bothered With Something And Unsure How I Would Make Things Right I Would Always Remember What Grandpa Told Me. He Had No Idea The Impact He Had On My Life. Not Just On A Young Boy Learning How To Fish. For The Years That Followed His Words Still Echoed To Me Many Years Later. As A Matter Of Fact I Also Shared With others Who Were Faced With Troubled Times His Words Of Wisdom.
I Am Thankful For The Years I Had With My Grandfather. Many Don't Have That Pleasure.
Years Past I Was Embarrassed By Having My Middle Name Being Clyde. Such An Outdated Name That Once Kids Find It Out Would Taunt You And Make Jokes About It. As An Adult I Am Often Reminded Of My Roots When I Flip Through The Pages Of My Grandmother's Diaries. Life And Times Of The Past And How Things Were Different Back Then. Yet Through The Years Moments In Times Seem To Be Fresh In Your Memory.
My Last Humorist Moments I Remember Of My Grandfather Came One Time The Summer Before He Passed Away. All The Family Got Together For A Family Reunion That Was Just His Kids And Grandkids. The Men Decided To Take Grandpa Fishing At The Lake Dam. I Reminded Them They Put No Trespassing Signs Restricting You From Fishing There. Of Course A Lot Of Fish Were Caught There By Grandpa And All His Boys Throughout The Years. My Uncle Said We Could Park The Car And Get There Through The Woods. It Would Take Us Twice As Long To Get There But Would Be Well Worth It Once We Got To That Favorite Fishing Hole. As We Tracked Through The Woods My Grandpa Became Short Winded And Decided To Sit On A Log For A Spell. I Told Them I Would Take A Look Just Outside Of The Woods To See How Much Further We Had Yet To Go. When I Returned They Were All Standing Near My Grandpa Eager To Go On. I Announced I Could See The Dam Road And We Had Just A Short Distance To Go. He Quickly Told Us He Wasn't Concerned About The Dam Road As Much As These Damn Hills. After Laughing At His Comments It Reminding Us All Of His Humor. I'm Thankful For Having Those Years With My Grandfather And The Memories He Left Behind That I Could Share. I Love You Grandpa And May You Rest In Peace.
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