Saturday, April 6, 2013

F is For Fishing


PT’s 91 Years of Wisdom

This year, I had a terrible time trying to figure out what my A-Z theme would be.  I finally decided that this year, I would honor my beloved 91 year old grandfather, Paul Titus, or PT as his friends called him, who passed away on February 8th.  He lived a wonderfully full life and was always trying to challenge my brothers and me to think out of the box.  So for this challenge I thought I would share little bits of his wisdom that he tried to bestow upon us.  
But I also want to highlight the wonderful bloggers in this community who have published their books.  So everyday, I will give a quick  shout out to those works with titles beginning with the letter of the day.  



The last time Gramps and I got to fish together
Gramps loved fishing.  He and I often spent summer evenings in the fishing boat.  It never mattered whether we caught something or not.  We just enjoyed talking about life while the sun set pink over the lake.  Even when we did catch a fish, many times he would not tie them tight enough on the stringer and they would get away.  It was devastating to me, especially when I had caught them and wanted to show the rest of the family.  Eventually I got used to it.  
One time, we were fishing from the beach, in the Gulf of Mexico.  My older second-cousin was fishing with us.  (He was about 30 at the time.)  The ocean trout were hitting and we pulled in a number of good sized ones.  Gramps put them on the stringer and tied them to a bucket of shrimp we had farther up the beach.  My cousin protested saying it wasn’t sturdy enough.  But Gramps told him, “I’ve done it that way for years, it’ll be fine.”
We went back to fishing.  That’s when a large wave rolled in and we turned back to watch helplessly as the beautiful trout freed themselves and swam back out to sea.  My cousin sputtered and turned red.  He shouted a few things, I probably shouldn’t repeat.  
I knew how he felt, so I went over to him and said, “Hey, Alex, don’t worry, Gramps loses my fish all the time.”  He laughed and we went back to fishing.          

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Now for the "F" title shout outs!


Jessica Bell

Angela Brown
Jessica Mckendry


Hope everyone's having a fantastic "F" day!  Make sure to check out all the other A-Zers here.  

Kathy :)

7 comments:

  1. All excellent book choices!
    Your second-cousin is an Alex? Is he a Ninja?
    It wasn't about the fishing, was it?

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  2. What a nice memory to share of your grandfather. I have several fishing memories, myself.

    Good luck with the challenge.

    Cheryl

    http://www.thebusymomsdaily.com/2013/04/blogging-from-to-z-april-challenge_6.html

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  3. What a lovely tribute to your grandfather! I look forward to more of your A to Z posts.

    http://www.mydestinationunknown.com
    A to Z Participant

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  4. I remember quality time with my own grandfather which you've brought back. He took me fishing and I can remember sitting on the riverbank reading my book 'cos the fish weren't biting. I loved fishing because I could read!

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  5. May your grandfather rest in peace.
    My late father and late uncle passed the love of fishing on to their kids. My fiance isn't as into it as I am, but he enjoys it. His brother's really into fishing, as is his son. Then I've got some nephews and nieces, and my brothers in law. We have quite a time of it!

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  6. I used to go fishing with my dad and grandpa a lot. I remember how we always had to get up SOOOO early in the morning to go...but I loved it! :)

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  7. What a great A to Z theme! I haven't read the other posts but from this one it sounds like he was a fun guy :)

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