My summer was truly awesome. It is hard to explain exactly how this came about, but it was because of something called a Medicaid Waiver. Thank you Lord that miracles still happen!
Because of this waiver, my facilitator Rich spent about five hours a day with me. We went to the library, we played soccer, we shopped, we ate at McDonalds, we jogged on the Huntington College outdoor track and we fished. And how we fished!
Before this summer, my fishing experience was very limited and unproductive. Once, my friend Beven Brauchla let me fish in the lake by his house, but we got rained on just after we began. Another time, my dad and I went fishing with Rich and his three sons. We fished for hours in the hot sun, but no one got even a nibble. My enthusiasm for fishing was fast disappearing.
Time passed. Rich and I spent a lot of that time watching his boys play baseball at the PAL club, which was fun. When their seasons came to an end, we had extra time to fill. Rich suggested we try fishing again. One day we went and bought our fishing licenses and some bait and went fishing.
We tried the Huntington Reservoir for two mornings and caught our first fish. It was a bluegill or sunfish and not too big, but it was quite a source of excitement anyhow. My first fish! I became as hooked on fishing as that bluegill was hooked on my bait and hook.
For the rest of the summer, Rich and I went fishing nearly every morning. We caught more bluegill and sunfish, enough for one small meal, maybe, if we had kept them (we practiced catch and release) and if Jesus was willing to multiply them for us.
We fished from the shore with only my silly beginner's reel and pole. We wanted to catch a bass like we saw somebody else catch. However, my reel didn't cast too far out, where we thought the bass were. Also, our bait seemed only to attract those bluegill and sunfish. It was time to visit Wal-Mart.
Usually I don't get to shop much, so I had lots of fun looking at lures, fishing magazines and reels. We started with a new lure, the magazine and some new hooks and a tackle box. We read the magazine and tried the new lures. More bluegill and sunfish. We bought a new "no tangle" reel and pole. The "no tangle" reel was truly no tangle. It wouldn't reel in the newly cast line at all. We traded that reel in for a new "country mile casting" reel. After the second or third cast, that reel also refused to reel in the line. We returned that one for our money back. I guess our next shopping spree will be at K-Mart.
About this time, my family went on vacation in New Hampshire and Maine. Every time we went out to eat, I ordered seafood, thinking of that bass we would someday catch. I came home full of lobster, steamed clams, shrimp, salmon and halibut, ready to try again.
There was only a week left before class. The pressure was on. Soon I would be in classes, listening to Dr. Ruthi, Dr. Bergdall and Mike Perkins. My fishing days would be gone.
Together, Rich and I went forth, armed only with my silly old reel and pole. Very sure of our success, we cast our line upon the waters. Eventually, we felt a mighty tug on our line. I reeled it in after a long battle and waited breathlessly to see my catch.
Yes! It was a bass, at last. It was a good thing, however, that I have good eyes, because my mighty bass was only four inches long. But it was a bass, by gosh. What a great way to end a great summer.
Ian Wetherbee September 3, 1999