When Papa Jim was going through his chemotherapy session, he promised BoBo and YaYa that he would take them fishing when his fight was over. It was his way of affirming that he was going to beat the cancer.
Well, as you may know, he did beat the cancer. However, sadly, the chemotherapy took such a toll on his heart that he suffered a deadly heart attack within days of hearing the news that he’d won the battle against cancer. He beat the cancer but we lost him anyway. And he was never able to take the boys fishing as he’d hoped (among other things).
Years later, YaYa got that fishing trip. While on our trip to Lake Almanor, the love of my life took YaYa under his wing and showed him everything he needed to know to go fishing. The whole scene was really sweet for me to sit back and observe.
In no time, YaYa was loading a squirmy wormy onto his hook and casting his line out like a pro. He even moved to his own shaded spot downstream with hopes of hooking the big one.
The lot of us had such a great time that it didn’t matter that the fish weren’t biting today.
I treasure moments like these, where someone special steps in to provide a bit of the male role modeling that is so important for a young boy to have. More than lessons in fishing are these lessons in life from a male perspective. Today, I see how blessed both YaYa and I are to have this day, and this man, as well as the others (such as Mr. GoodNeighbor, YaYa’s godfather, and my other wonderful neighbor) who help to fulfill this need.