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Taking my children fishing has always been a special time for our family.
On this particular day, the sun was shining above us, and my daughter’s smile was shining just as bright. My 10-year-old daughter walked to the water’s edge, looking into the water. She gripped her brand new fishing pole in her hand. As she was a young child, I had bought her a child-friendly fishing pole; one that was not too unwieldy for her, and one that fit her small frame. It was her first time fishing. Ever, she reminded me. She had been looking forward to this day for quite some time.
I had picked just the right pond for the two of us on this day. As I wanted her to truly enjoy the experience, I had located a pond that was not crowded with others. At the same time, I wanted her to have success fishing for the first time, so the pond I chose was one that I knew had a lot of fish in it.
There were many lessons for my young daughter to learn that day. To begin with, I wanted to teach my daughter the important lesson of preparing beforehand. The night before, the two of us packed our fishing gear, made some sandwiches, got some bottles of water, and made sure we had enough bug repellant spray. I was hoping to teach her the value of nature, and of the importance of conservation. Along with that, my hope was that my ten-year-old would begin to learn about ecology, and maybe even a little science along the way.
We even had an opportunity to learn a little about how our nation’s government system works. As it was important for me to teach her the need to follow government rules and regulations, we had obtained her fishing license a few weeks back.
Taking the fishing pole in her hand, my daughter was eager to place her first bait upon it, and toss a line into the pond. I helped her bait it and how to cast it in, teaching her yet another lesson.
Perhaps, though, the biggest lesson was one I learned that day; that of time. The time with my daughter went far beyond teaching lessons, and of teaching. It was a time where we could be daddy and daughter, simply doing a little fishing together.
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Photo: Getty Images
