Father's Day Surprise!

Last weekend, our son Gerrit and his family spontaneously asked us to go with them to our family trailer. It didn't take more than 5 minutes for me to think about it and to respond with a yes. Within an hour, we were winging our way through Toronto traffic, and made the traditional stop at the McDonalds drive-thru on highway #115 before arriving safely at the trailer.

It is a wonderful change of scenery for me to hear the many birds, smell the campfire, and watch my son cut the grass, prune the trees, and water the cedars. My grandson had to wait for his father to finish work before going out on a fishing expedition together. I don't know how many times he asked when they could go, but he readily helped by picking up sticks and pinecones from the lawn, and tossing them into the fire. There is something about fires that all boys, young and old, find mesmerizing.

The next day, I went in my electric wheelchair to the dock to see them off for another fishing trip. "Are you coming with us, dad?" my son asked. I thought about it for about 10 seconds, and said "sure, why not". Gerrit and Lena lifted me out of my wheelchair onto my wobbly legs. I had to take a big step up onto a wobbly floating dock, and then, with each of them having one foot in the boat and one foot on the dock, they lifted my one leg into the front of the boat and then the other one and from there I had to walk across the bow into the seat of the bobbing boat. 

It was probably not the safest, most responsible thing I've ever done, but it sure was worth it! Benjamin, our 5 year old grandson, was watching the whole procedure and when I finally was seated in the boat, he spontaneously broke out into the biggest smile and gave us a big thumbs up.

In order to get out to the lake, you have to pass through a channel that they've cut out through the bullrushes. When you get to the end of the docks, you have to "floor it" so that you can plane out as you fly through the channel, as it is quite shallow at first. Now it is always my habit at that moment, when weaving through the channel, with the wind in my hair, smiling in anticipation and feeling full of joy and thankfulness, to throw both hands in the air and at the top of my voice, yell, "Yeeeehaaaaw!!"

Of course Benjamin is used to hearing me do this and has been "yeehawing" along with me for the last few years, but this trip, he realized that I was not able to do it so with Lena behind me holding up both my arms, Benjamin, while sitting on the bow threw up both his little arms high in the air and at the top of his voice showed us that he was more than happy to carry on this tradition from grandfather to son to grandson.

I spent the afternoon watching my son and grandson fish. What a happy Father's Day weekend it turned out to be for me. Fathers, it is so important that you not only feed and clothe and pray for your children, but that you also spend time with them. They need it and thrive on it.

Jack and Lena