We hope you’ll love reading this memory from Laurel M. as much as we did. We also hope it inspires you to share a memory of your own father for a chance to win an item on our Father’s Day Gift Guide in our #BeOutdoorsWithDad Father’s Day Giveaway Contest.
Since my father has no boys, he was intent on teaching his daughters many of the skills most dads imparted to their sons.
My sisters and I were subject to many an action film, the library of all things James Bond and some very “involved” softball coaching. But, what still stands out are the many times my father tried to get us interested in fishing.
Since we have a lake house, this makes perfect sense. Lake = water = fish. However, when you’re trying to teach three girls to fish, there are a few problems, and while you might think worms would be the worst of it, I think patience was the much bigger problem.
Fishing adventures tended to end shortly after the first or fifteenth, “I’m bored.”
Plus, whenever we did catch a fish, it was always a throw-away on the dumb side of fish life. (I can remember more than a couple holes or hooks already in its mouth.)
One day though, my father came in with some news.
“We’re going fishing!” he said.
Three collective sighs went around the table – especially since we were in Birmingham and nowhere near our lake house.
“This time is going to be different,” my dad said. “We’re going to a special pond. Guaranteed good fishing.”
Reluctantly, we got in the car, drove for about half an hour and came to a stop at the smallest “lake” I had ever seen. But sure enough, nearly a minute after I put my line in the water, I pulled out one of the biggest catfish I had ever seen.
Soon, I caught two more fish, and my sisters were just as lucky. “This is a special pond,” I thought.
“I think we should only keep three a piece,” my dad said later. “We’ve got to leave some for everybody else.”
I wanted to keep every fish I caught. (Boy, were they biting that day!) But my dad’s logic made sense, in addition to the fact that he was my dad and he made the rules, so we quickly agreed.
It wasn’t until we were leaving, and a man pulled my father aside to weigh and pay for our fish that I realized we weren’t quite at a “special pond.” We were at a stocked pond, and this little adventure was costing my father quite a bit of money.
It was an especially expensive outing when you consider that later that night, after my father had prepared and cooked a full fish meal (with a freezer full of catfish to spare), we each responded with, “I don’t like catfish,” and opted for mac and cheese instead.
That’s just my dad though – always going out of his way and doing his best to make sure that his girls were never disappointed. Whether it was making his daughters think of themselves as star fishermen, attending every softball, soccer and volleyball game or enduring hours at the mall, he always made us feel like he wanted to and enjoyed just being there.
— Laurel M.
