Fishing with Grandpa

Is it weird that I love fishing but hate fish? I won't eat them. I abhorr the smell of them. But I really enjoy fishing. Like thousands of others, I love the tranquility and peace of the water and casting a line. I also the excitement and thrill of reeling in a fish.

It would be nice to go fishing more often. But I get at least one epic fishing trip in a year thanks to my grandfather. He is an avid fisherman. Many of the meals my mom had growing up in Hawaii were from what my grandpa caught while spearfishing.

So of course, he wants to pass on his love of fishing to all his posterity. Which he has successfully done! Each year he rents a pontoon, brings all his fishing gear, and prepares everything that we will need to have a joyful experience on the lake.

There are 18 people in my family. 7 are his great-grandchildren. It's so fun to have 4 generations together on the boat! Grandpa always makes sure there is plenty of bait, extra hooks, and enough fishing poles to accommodate such a large crew. He even has prizes for who catches the first fish, the biggest fish, the smallest fish, the last fish, and whoever kisses the fish. 💋

We all have so much fun together and greatly appreciate the generosity of my grandparents to facilitate such a fun experience for us all. We get to spend time together, make memories, and always have in our hearts the tradition of fishing with grandpa.

I admire so many things about my Grandpa and Grandma. They have taught me so much through their examples, experiences, and the effort they put into everything they do. I have particularly learned the value of being cheerful regardless of the situation. I am not perfect at this, but it is something I strive to continually become. They have this beautiful ability to smile, to compliment, to love, and to validate everyone and everything. I love this so much about them.

I am so blessed to have my grandparents close by and be able to create memories with them. I also want to pay tribute to my paternal grandparents who have both passed away, but I appreciate so much the things they taught me and the values they passed on.

So I think there are a few morals to this story.

Moral of the Story #1: It's never too late to start traditions with your family. The consistency of building a particular memory is very powerful. There will probably be some sacrifice, financial and time investment, and planning involved, but the reward is a million percent worth it. In the words of Fiddler on the Roof—TRADITION!

Moral of the Story #2: As the good book says, Honor thy Father and thy Mother (and grandmother and grandfather I would add). Learn from their experiences, their actions, and their qualities that you would like to also possess. Write down the things they have taught you and the values they instilled. Then seek to develop those attributes more.

Moral of the Story #3: Learn how to act better than you feel. You might not be able to choose how you feel, but you can choose how you act. How we treat other people really matters. We all have feelings and they are valid. We have to feel and process our emotions. But just because we feel something in the moment doesn't give us a free pass to treat others in a crappy way.

Now— go spend time with someone you love!

Until next week,

Erica ❤️🌺