A FISH TALE

A FISH TALE ----- 29 Oct 2015

He was sitting on the dock with a fishing pole. An older man, just calm and serene.
A boy walks up the road and stands behind him. How is the fishing he asks? The old man says the fishing is great but the catching is not so good.
The boy says my Dad used to say that. Do you mind if I fish with you for a while?
The man waved at him and said, ”Come on over there is plenty of room.”

What are you going to use for bait, he asked. The boy said, Night Crawlers I guess I still have two left. OK well if you use all your worms and want to try some salmon eggs, there are some in that tackle box there on the dock.

The old man said,"You got a name son?" Ya, I sure do he said, it is Bob. It really is Robert, but I like Bob better.
Well mine is Wally the old man said. The boy said, my Mom told me I have to call older people Mister or Mrs.-- So is it OK if I call you Mister Wally. The old man smiled and told him, yes that would be just fine.

You got a cabin up here by the lake Bob? Yup we sure do. My Mom and big brother are down there now. My big brother is named Joseph, but he likes people to call him Joe. He don't like to fish. He just sits around and reads books and plays video's all the time. My Mom is resting at the cabin, she gets tired a lot.

Does your Dad like to fish, he asked Bob. Well he did, but he is not with us anymore. He has gone back to Heaven. The old man told him he was real sorry to hear that, and he bet it was tough not having his Dad around. Did your Dad like to come to the cabin with you before he went back to Heaven?

Ya but he was in a car accident. Before that we came up here a lot. In fact he used to say, this place must be what Heaven is like. We all loved it up here. Now my Mom just rests most of the time and Joe just lays around. I like to fish when we come but normally I do not catch many.
You going to be here very long, the old man asked? No we are going back home tomorrow. My Dad used to say we were going back to the "Rat-Race." My Dad thought that was funny.

Well they did a lot of small talk and fished for a few hours. I told him my wife of 56 years had died last winter. He got a serious look on his face and asked if I thought maybe his Dad and My Wife may have got together and talked.

Bob then got up and started getting ready to go back to his cabin. He told me he had to get back to the cabin to help get the dinner ready and clean up the dishes and stuff after they finished. He said I sure hope we can fish another time.

Mister Wally told him that he sure hoped so too. He said it was fun talking to you even if we never caught any fish.

Bob started on up the road and after a few steps he stopped and turned around and said, I guess I better tell you, you ain't going to catch any fish. The breeze has washed your hook up by shore and it is only about a foot out in the water---- and there is no bait on it!" The old man laughed and Bob snickered and they both agreed that they both enjoyed visiting and they did not really care if they caught any fish or not.

Well the old man did not see much of Bob. He saw him a few times and they talked and reminisced a little. Mister Wally thought about him quite often at first but then other things seem to get in the way.

During their talks he did find out that Bob and his family lived in the small town of Evansville, which was clear across the State from where the old man lived. He told Bob where he lived and if he ever got over there to be sure and look him up. He also found out that Bob's family were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

During their talks Bob also told Mister Wally about his sister Roberta that was killed in the same car wreck that his father was in. On one of their fishing/visiting days he said that he did not not like to talk about her much because it made him sad and sometimes he even started crying when he talked about her. The old man assured him there was nothing wrong with that. He told him that he still cried sometimes when he talked about his wife and she had been gone for a few years.

So over a period of a few years Mister Wally put Bob in the back of his mind, where he occasionally thought about him, but not very much.

Well I am sure you can imagine the day he was sitting on the dock with his line in the water at the lake by his cabin, and a big strapping, good looking young man walked up the road with his fishing pole and a box of worms, and yelled, Hi Mister Wally, can I fish with you for a little while?

Mister Wally jumped up (well if you could call it jumping up at his age) and they hugged each other and patted each other on the back.  The old man said, "boy it has been a long time Bob."

Well they did a little fishing and a lot of talking . This time they caught a few fish and Bob laughed and said, "I guess it helps if you bait the hook?"

They talked like they were old long lost friends and the old man invited Bob and his family to come down to his cabin and he would put a fish fry on for them. Bob thanked him but told him that his Mom did not visit much, and that Joe was off back east someplace at a La-Tee-Dah University so he was just with his Mom now. I will however, tell Mom that you invited us.

I suppose to make a long story shorter, I can say we met about one time a year, for several years at the dock by the lake at our cabin. We always got a fishing pole in the water but I don't remember if we caught many fish. However I do remember that neither of us really cared if we did or not.

It seemed we both really enjoyed the visiting and reminiscing. Many times I thought about what a strange coincidence it was for us to meet at all.

They were both older on this last trip and they talked about his dreams and about the old man's memories. Bob seemed to have a lot of plans for his life, and Mister Wally's was just winding down, so sometimes their tales were serious and sometimes they were comical. However they still seemed to enjoy their time together.

Maybe you can imagine Mister Wally's surprise when he went to church on Sunday and his Bishop came up to him and handed him a letter that he had just received the day before. He said I think this is for you:
It was addressed to THE LDS BISHOP
                                WELLSVILLE, UTAH
And inside was a note that said: Bishop I think you have a member in your Ward who's first name is Wally. I checked and there is only one Ward in Evansville, so I hope you get this to him. Inside there was a note simply addressed to: MISTER WALLY
                                                    LDS WARD
                                                    WELLSVILLE, UTAH
The note inside said: Hi this is from Bob your fishing buddy. I am leaving on a mission on the 10th of June 2010 and would really love to have you at my mission farewell meeting, if you can possibly make it. If you cannot make it please call me at 801-365-XXXX.

Well Mister Wally went to his farewell. He did not know anyone there, but the Bishop came up and introduced himself. When he found out who the old man was he said, I want to introduce you to Bob's Mom, she seems to have a soft spot in her heart for you.

We walked to the front if the Chapel and there was a lady, about 45 or 50 years old in a wheelchair. She put her hand out said, "well I finally get to meet the infamous Mister Wally?" Mister Wally was shocked, He had never even imagined that Bob's Mom was also hurt very seriously in the accident that killer her husband. Bob had never indicated why his Mom was always tired, or why she did not go many places. She had been in a wheelchair all these years.

She said they had a private joke in the family that there was an invisible man, named Mister Wally that hung around the lake in the mountains and Bob had become friends with him. She thanked the old man profusely for what he had done for Bob. And the old man told her that she was mixed up because it was Bob that had helped him a Little with the coping with his wife's death.

So was it a co-incidence that Bob and Wally met miles away from their homes and that they clearly had something in common. I THINK NOT?

(FOR THE MOST PART THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION--WITH SOME LIFE EXPERIENCES SCATTERED IN IT. As I was looking at some old pictures and reading some old journals this past week some of these thought came to mind.)

W.R. Baldwin
29 Oct 2015