My Special Memories

Sometimes I think about the memories I have had with my grandpa, his name was Frank Ruis. He was very short and loved to eat caramel candy while he sat in his chair watching John Wayne. He was a special man, very well respected. Everyone loved him because he always smiled. There was not one mean bone in his body; he was the kind of person who would do anything for me. I remember when he came over around eight in the morning, he brought donuts and told me to get dressed because we were going fishing. That was my favorite thing to do because that was our own special time we would spend together. He was like my dad, always spending special time with me. Not even my real dad gave that to me.

Once I was ready, we left to Pearson Park. When we got to the park, my grandpa got the worms out,  and I couldn’t help myself I began to feel sick, it looked so gross, I didn’t want to touch it. So in order to actually fish he had to do it for me. I remember crying because the worm was still moving; with so much determination I tried to save the worm. I  ended up ripping it in half, I began to cry more for killing the small worm. My grandpa set me on his lap and said “Madalena don’t cry, you’re okay.” So I stopped crying and the rest of my day was depressing, because all I could think about was the worm I killed.

I decided I would never fish again, but my grandpa had a talk with me on the way to Mc. Donalds, he said, “Don’t you want to feed the fishy’s?” I replied “Yes, but what about the worms?” He said, “The fish need to eat the worms it’s okay. Do you believe me when I say don’t worry about it?” of course I replied “Yes.” Then he smiled and told me that we will go fishing next week. So a week already went by and there I was back to the same situation again, afraid of killing another innocent worm. I told my grandpa I couldn’t do it, so he attached the worm to the hook and threw my rod in the water. I sat for about an hour and a half waiting to catch something. Then all of a sudden the rod began to move.

    The rod seem to look as if it were heading towards the lake. I  became so excited I screamed for my grandpa. He was so proud of me because I had just caught my first fish! I was so happy, and for some reason I thought I just caught a new pet. We grabbed my fish and took it down to his workshop he had in the basement. I put my fish in the water bucket, while I waited for my grandpa I sat in the back room looking at my new fish thinking of a name for it. Here I am thinking I’m going to take my fish home, but that was not the case at all. My grandpa grabbed the fish out of the bucket and set it on the table which was covered with newspaper, and all I see is this small machete go up, and land on the neck of my fish cutting the fishes head off of its body. I began to cry yet again, but he couldn’t help but laugh. He told me “Well how do you expect us to eat?” Now that I look back and think about it everything he said was for a reason. I can’t help but start to laugh. I really miss him. He was the one I went to whenever I needed someone to talk to, or when I needed something he was there. He was the best dad I ever knew, I will forever cherish those memories.