While I'm in a sharing mood for stories.....
I come from a fairly avid family of fishermen. Some of the guys in the family have fished all over the world, and we have fished for pretty much most sport species available. Well my grandfather is the patriarch of our fishing family, and he is perhaps the most avid fisherman of us all. He is 86 years old now, and still travels the world fishing for serious gamefish. If his name wasn't John, I would swear he was Ernest Hemingway.
Well, now to my story. Every year for the past 8 years or so, my family arranges several fishing trips a year -- more as a way to get together then anything else. Since I live here on the East Coast, it has become my job to set up the annual tuna fishing trip off the RI coast every September. This usually involves chartering 4 - 5 boats as I have 15 guys come in from all over the world for the event (uncles in Hong Kong, cousin in Paris, cousins and uncles in Seattle, Milwaukee, Houston, NC, etc).
A few years back as I was setting up the trip, I starting wondering about my grandfather and his ability -- at the age of 83 -- to handle any kind of tuna fish, let alone the 300+ pounders we had cuaght in the past. We never use a chair, and always catch our fish standing with a gimbel belt (well, usually I should say). I debated whether I should invite him or not, and spoke to my Uncle (his son) at length. I really wanted him there, but was afraid a 100 pound blue fin might really be too much for him, and he would get hurt -- as I know he would NEVER come off a fish no matter how hard it would be for him. So, taking the sage advice of my Uncle, I spoke to my grandfather and explained my position. I really wanted him to come, but wanted to make sure he would be "up" for it. He was kind and let me off the hook by thanking me for the invitation, but by also telling me that he already had plans for that particular weekend (Sept. 12 - 13) to go fishing off the Azore Islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Well our trip comes and passes and the "team" that made it had a great time landing 50+ pound bluefins.
About 5 days later, on September 18, in the mail, I get an 8" X 11" envelope with the inscription, "Pictures - Do Not Bend" written all over the front. Curious, I open the envelope. Boy was I in for a surprise.
Inside the envelope was a picture of my grandfather, with his fishing pole in hand, next to ----and this is not a typo -- a 952 pound giant blue marlin he landed that very same weekend we were tuna fishing. In the picture he is giving me the "bird -- middle finger", and the only hand-written note in the envelope says, "Old man my ass. Love Grandpa".
Needless to say, I will never doubt this man. To this day, we still fish all over the world, and he is there side by side with all the younger guys EASILY outfishing us. I have a "Wall of Fame" for all fishing pictures in my house, and his Blue Marlin is in the center position.
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