A beautiful day for fishing; Archie uses the opportunity to relive his tragic past, to revisit his haunted memories and tell his Grandson, Aaron, that he is in fact, not his biological grandfather. Aaron learns through his beloved grandfather’s life story that no matter how tragic and traumatic life is, God will bring you through it.
It is a beautiful day for fishing, and as with every Saturday, Archie and his grandson, Aaron go fishing at their favorite spot on the lake.
On this occasion, however, Archie must relive his tragic past, he must visit his haunted memories to tell his Grandson, Aaron, that he is in fact, not his biological grandfather. Aaron does not expect to hear the in-depth recollection of Archie’s sad history, but Archie desires it to be told even against the resurfaced pain it causes him.
Aaron’s heartstrings are tugged at tightly while he witnesses the anguish his grandfather, Archie experiences, and yet he stands amazed at Archie’s faith in God. Through all the tragedy that Archie faced, he remained God’s faithful servant; he always knew God had a greater plan for him.
Aaron learned a few vital life lessons this memorable day fishing on the lake and one in particular that he would live by for the rest of his life; “Asking God ‘What can I learn?’ instead of ‘Why me?’ is a much better place to station our minds.”
Soaring majestically high above Archie and Aaron a Fish Eagle searches for his prey; will he be more successful at catching fish on this day than Archie and Aaron.
Excerpt
“Gently son, gently reel it in, gently,” Archie guided Aaron. Not that he required it, Aaron, by this stage in his young life, was an experienced fisherman.
“Get the net Gramps, here it comes.” Aaron pulled the resistant fish out of the water. Archie quickly got the net in position. They caught the fish in the net and brought it into the boat. Aaron unhooked the hook that was stuck in its mouth. “Nice size,” Aaron said as he inspected his catch and admired the creature.
“Yes, but I’m sure there are bigger. Let’s put this fellow back,” Archie said, as he did with practically every catch. Unless they happen to catch an abnormally large sized fish, they always released their catch.
Aaron gently lowered the fish back into the water, allowed the water to flow through its gills and let it go. The fish swam off hastily.
Aaron fixed a new lure onto his line and cast again, the lure and sinker plonked into the water near to where he had cast the previous time. He sat on the bench in the boat and drank the last of the water in the small bottle.
“Okay, you were saying.” He was ready to hear the rest of the story.
Archie cleared his throat, thought for one last moment and then spoke.
“When I was a young lad, about your age, the war was breaking out all over the world. My brother, Elmer, and I were eager to enlist. And so we did. We got shipped off to a training camp, and a few weeks later we were being flown to Europe to fight. Flying in that cargo plane, was very uncomfortable, cold and noisy. We were so afraid of the future, but at the same time we were so pumped up with adrenalin we overcame our fear. We just wanted to jump head-on into the war and to do our part.”
“What was your brother like?”
“Elmer was a lot like you son. I’m sure that is where you get your genes from. You remind me so much of him. Some days it is as though you are him. He was a clever boy, as you are and with the same unruly black hair. Even the Brylcreem couldn’t control his hair.” They both laughed at the image gained from Archie’s memory.
Archie looked over the still, calm lake. All that broke the silence was the sounds of the critters and creatures of the lake.
“When we returned from the war zone to our base camp, we occasionally had the opportunity to go to a pub or a nightclub; that is if the town we were in had one. Naturally being an American soldier in a foreign country had its advantages. The women loved us, and we could pick and choose from the ladies for a dance or a date for the whole evening as we pleased. Some of the soldiers abused their welcome and this privilege which often led to fights with the locals. But that only made us ‘gentlemen’ more sought after.” Archie took a breath and then chuckled at his recollections.
“Well, in any case, one fortunate evening we were at a, well I’m not sure what it was really, it was a restaurant and a bar and a nightclub all in one. Some of us soldiers were having dinner there and while we were eating a woman took the microphone from the band leader.”
“Band leader?” Aaron interrupted.
“Yes. We did not have these DJ fellows you have today; we had real people, wearing very smart suits mind you, playing real instruments and singing - live.” Archie retorted.
“Anyhow, this beautiful Sicilian lady starts singing; I’ll never forget that song, it was ‘You’ll never know.' I stopped eating. I was mesmerized by her angelic voice. She sang directly into my soul. She was exquisitely beautiful, porcelain skin, blonde hair, and had these piercing sky-blue eyes. I fell in love with Grandma Pearl right there, right then.”
Professional Reviews
Linda Jones
Another beautiful story by Aileen, as an author Aileen always manages to bring the characters to life, one by one the characters creep into your heart and come to life. This is a story of love hope and strong bonds, this is a story once again that will remain in your heart long after you have read the last page
Mark Peak
There are stories which once started must be told to the end before you can stop. Aileen Friedman's latest story is of this type. Real life holds much more than a glossy cover of happiness and sunny days. Holding on to secrets may seem right for a time but when God comes in, redemption arrives through their release. It is then we know the power of Amazing Grace. Read on and see for yourself
Peter Van Wyk
Aileen invited me to read her book……… I don’t normally read short Christian novelettes. I started reading and was not intrigued at the start of the story. Ok I thought what is it about anyway and I continued. I am glad I did because the story not only captured my attention but my heart. I was surprised how Aileen was able to use her story telling finesse to take me on a moving emotional journey. Before I realized... I was drawn into the story. I could not stop reading. I went from being outside the story to feeling like I was in the story. I felt like I could relate with the character Archie, his joy, his pain and his sorrow. I must confess it brought tears to my eyes. So much more is ravelled up in such a powerfully emotional and compelling story. I can only strongly recommend you buy and read it. Be prepared to have an experience and not just a read.
