I want to remind everyone, I am like many parents - proud of most of the simple things our children do. I believe I am like most parents that always wants to preserve memories with the "firsts" of our loved little ones - first word, first crawl, first step, first tooth, first haircut..., I can go on and on. To me, Marko catching his first fish is HUGE! I know this will be important to my son when he looks back after I'm long gone. Now with all this social media and technology, I just take that extra step to write about it and share it with others.
This past weekend, we spent it outdoors. Saturday, April 13th, we fed ducks, spent time in the jungle gym, he demanded to go to Bass Pro to buy worms, spent an hour because he loves their fish tank, went to a local lake and set up our fishing poles. Then the rock throwing began, took a nature walk, picked up sticks, threw sticks, shot his bow, ate, checked on the poles, and repeated many of these over & over, haha. Occasionally, to take a break, he'd sit on the lawn chair, drank water, and observed the fishing poles with great attentiveness. This day went fish-less, but with lots of fun. Then we went home, had a father-and-son "slumber party", watched Ice Age, ate our popcorn, and we gradually passed out. We were both exhausted.
Sunday, I knew was going to be special. The first words out of my son's mouth were, "Let's go fishing". "LET'S GO FISHING", it blew my mind. I cooked us some breakfast, headed to BP for more worms, and hit the lake again. We set up our poles, fished a while, but our worm supply somehow diminished (ask my son Marko to explain that one). Back to BP we went, bought more worms, and hit that lake again. It was a very windy day, but he just did not want to leave. Play, play, play. Cast, cast, cast. My son was a warrior, I tell ya.
Then I saw his bobber move. I could have sworn my heart almost jumped out of my chest! He picked up the pole, and began to reel in. Then I remembered the camera was in the vehicle. I asked him to wait so that I could get the camera. He is such a great listener, he gave me a chance to get it so I could record the moment. The rest is history.
Parents, friends, I captured a wonderful moment. My son and I created a memory of a lifetime. I created memories with my older children, but I did not have the resources to capture them technologically and social media as know today was non-existent. They are, however, forever preserved in my heart.
Marko's first fish is so much more than the fish or fishing, it's about our time spent together, the "memories" we made, the memory I captured on video, and taking another step toward introducing my son to the outdoors.
Love you Marko.
