Originally posted on Facebook on Wednesday, August 4, 2021.
In Week 32 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for my Uncle John Jr.
Fishing with my dad was my happy place as a young boy.
Every Saturday, I'd ask my dad -correction, I'd beg my dad to go fishing. I remember the tingle of anticipation as we'd load the boat and hitch it to that old, green, Dodge Diplomat. It felt like traveling to a different world as we drove from the neatly coifed yards of our neighborhood in the city of Jackson, Mississippi and approached, what seemed like at the time, the vast ocean of the Ross Barnett Reservoir.
On this particular day, we're fishing with his brother and my Uncle John Jr.
Fishing with these guys is an all day (and night) affair. I remember on one occasion a friend of mine asked to go with us and broke down crying because he had had enough after 8 hours. Poor guy. This is why the grocery store was one of our first stops on a fishing trip. My dad would buy stuff like a whole loaf of bread, packs of bologna, potted meat, vienna sausages, chips, water and liver -that last one was for the fish. As I think about the way we ate on these trips, I can't help but laugh thinking about how neurotic my wife and I have been about how and what our kids eat. On these fishing trips, I'd often go between baiting my hook with a minnow and fixing a sandwich. Our idea of sanitation was running our hand through the lake water to get off fish scales and worm guts before reaching into the pack of bologna!
I remember the roar of the outboard motor and the gentle skips of the boat as we skimmed the lake. My dad had taken us out pretty far -so far that we've largely lost sight of land. We approached a small island that looks like something straight out of Huckleberry Finn. It's surrounded by lily pads. I peer over the edge of the boat and can see no sign of bottom. I turn to my Uncle John Jr. and ask, "Hey Uncle John, how deep do you think that water is?" He takes an oar and plunges it down until his forearm is submerged. He replies, "It's deep." I couldn't swim so I asked, "What would you do if you fell in that water?" He replied, "Seeing that I can't swim, I guess I'd have to drink it all, nephew!" And, with that he, I and my dad had a long, hearty laugh.
I learned yesterday, that my Uncle John Jr. has passed. But what remains with me is that every memory I have of him is warm and kind. I'm grateful. I solicit your prayers and kind regards for Uncle John Jr.'s family and loved ones. #52WoG