Since I often go by my first name, people ask who is ROY?

Hopefully this story will help explain. I am one of the lucky few that have been enjoying the great outdoors since I was able to walk. I owe this to all of my family and friends, but I would like to share the memory of my last fishing trip with my Grandpaw Roy.

Roy AKA "Paw" loved to hunt and fish and he had great pleasure in sharing this with others. When Paw was diagnosed with cancer it had already taken over his body and left him with very little time left on this precious earth. Paw set it in his mind that he was going to take me fishing one more time before the Lord took him away. Of course by now he was in very poor health and my Grandmother did not think it was a good idea. He told her that he made the promise to me and he was going to keep it. She tried to stop him and quickly found out that was not going to work. So she offered to go with us and drive the car because he was barely even able to walk. He told her no, this was going to be our time to spend together.

We loaded up his little VW Bug and set out to go fishing about 20 miles away at a relatives stock tank. When we arrived they were outside waiting for us. Since Paw knew that it would be a long hard task for him to get to the tank, he told me to grab my pole and go ahead and start fishing. On my first cast I caught a nice catfish. I was so excited I went running back towards the car with fish and rod in hand. They had only made it about halfway to the tank by this time. I can't quite remember who was more excited about this Paw or me. After awhile they made it to the tank and put Paw in a fold out reclining chair overlooking the tank. I caught a couple more fish while he lay their watching me, probably reminiscing over his own childhood memories. I put my pole down and went over to him and we just lay there together enjoying the moment while watching the warm and inviting sunset. It felt so good. At this moment in time you would have never known how ill he was. We just lay there cuddled up with smiles on both our faces that went from ear to ear.

Why did I share this very personal and cherished memory with you? I hope that it stirs up some of the great memories that you have had enjoying the great outdoors and encourages you to create more! Not only does it help preserve our future, but most of all you are creating memories that last a lifetime.

Sincerely,

Stephen Roy Manning

Fish Often, Fish Hard, And By All Means Necessary Take Someone Along Who Has Never Been!