JIM’S BIRTHDAY
My little brother (we are both senior citizens but I still think of him as my little brother) Jim’s birthday is the same week as the opening of trout season in the state of Missouri where we live. The park is just a few miles from the farm we grew up on. Jim loves to fish and we all love to come to his famous fish fries. When he was young and we asked him what he would like for his birthday; every year it was the same, a trout tag for opening day.
At the park this is a big thing, thousands of people line the banks of the main spring and the creek that flows from it into the Niangua River. They stand shoulder to shoulder on both sides casting their lines out across the water and trying to imitate a fly hitting the top of the water to entice a trout to strick, It takes a lot of skill and patience to stand and wait for the fish to bite. The park also is a trout hatchery from it the spring is loaded with catchable-size fish for opening day. I like to fish but fly fishing never appealed to me; I could never understand how people could stand in a cold stream for hours on end to catch 5 little fish. But my brother enjoyed it.
One year I think he was around 11 he got to stand between the governor and Marty Stouffer of the TV series Wild America, Talk about inflating a little boy’s ego. I loved to watch him engage in his passion. We would all go to the park for a picnic and celebrate his birthday; mom would bake his favorite Boston cream pie. We would cheer whenever he caught a fish and stay until the closing bell rang at 6 pm whether he had caught his limit or not.
When I called him this year on his birthday we talked about his trout fishing days. He said he doesn’t do that anymore, too old. He doesn’t even like trout anymore to many bones to watch for. He likes to set in the boat and catch bass that you can filet and don’t have all the bones to look for. And all you have to do is ask when the next fish fry is and he will say come on over got some in the freezer.
My passion I found in high school, I took an art class because I had to fill a slot in my schedule. I fell in love with creating pictures on paper and canvas, It was something I could do wherever I went. I still am passionate about art and have taught classes myself and at one point had i school and gallery. Now it is something I do mainly on commission and for my own personal enjoyment.
What is your passion? God puts our passions in us, find yours and stick to it. When the years pile on and the bones get stiff you will still have something to enjoy. You may have to modify how you accomplish what you love doing but the passion will still be there.
Don’t give up on life and it won’t give up on you.
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