I can remember sitting exactly where she is. Call me crazy but I was that little girl that wanted to be the first one in the boat and then the first one cleaning the fish after they were caught. And if there was none to clean I wanted to keep fishing to be the one that caught them. As a child I loved..... well more than loved I literally waited all year for summertime to get to go to my Granny & Paw Paw Bill’s camp. Nothing big but beyond perfect for what I wanted. And what I wanted was to fish. Little did I know I was getting way more than that; I was getting time I could never replace. I still don’t know how my Granny managed it, but every single time we woke to fish she had piping hot homemade biscuits ready for us. And I am not exaggerating they were never the kind from a can, they were the real homemade deal! And for me they always were in a cornbread pan and cut in triangles with the butter placed between the cuts at the exact time it needed to be in order for it to not only melt, but for it to be absorbed in both sides to equal perfection!!!! And it never failed she got it right each time; yet if you woke up a little bit late you didn’t have to worry because she had it wrapped in a paper towel for you to take on the boat lol. Sorry to rattle on but all of these memories come back strongly just from these pics of Leighton watching her Daddy clean these fish. I will never forget the time my Paw Paw Bill took me out fishing all day and when we got back to the camp I was prouder than ever to show off what we had caught. And as I bragged about my fish he said “Well let’s get to cleaning them.” Ummmmmm???? And that’s when he calmly and slowly ( cause that is his way) explained to me that I am nothing with a net of fish unless I can catch and clean them!!! So that’s what we did.... he taught me and I cleaned!!!!! Fast forward to 15 plus years later...... I finally convinced Brent (my fiancé at the time) to take me fishing. As we sat on the boat just him and I he asked me “so you bored yet?” I can remember thinking this fool must be joking? We had only been there for maybe an hour. As time passed he started asking me if I had brought any magazines? What? Come to find out he didn’t think I would last an hour fishing much less a day! Pahaaaaa this dude had no clue who he had in his boat that day. I didn’t just out fish him, but I baited my own hook, took all the fish I caught off the hook and was driven more than he thought to catch more fish than him!!!! Not only had my Paw Paw taught me to clean the fish I caught..... he had taught me every single thing I needed to know in order to get to the cleaning process. And he had taught me so much more. He taught me that:
There is no such thing as the early bird, but there are women willing to roll out of bed just to be in the boat with you.
There are girls out there who understand the importance of boat etiquette silence, but won’t follow the rules for just anyone.
There are reasons only some of us are made to bait our own hooks, but don’t understand why you would consider one who couldn’t.
There is something to be said about a girl who can spend a day on the water with you, but can’t understand why guys never seem to think they are worthy.
There is nothing better than a little girl on a boat with her fishing pole, but before you blink those days are memories!!!!
Thank you Paw Paw Bill for making so many memories with me. Memories I don’t even know if you realize you made. I have always loved fishing with you, but until today when I saw my own daughter watching and asking so many questions didnt realize how very special those memories were!!!
