|
When I was a kid, in the 50's and 60's, one
of my favorite things to do was to camp, fish
and shoot targets. None of these things could
really be done, outside of my Scout troop,
without mom and dad agreeing to take me and
go on a trip.
"Let's go camping and fishing," would be my
cry as soon as summer came around. The days
were long and it was perfect weather to get
out of the heat and up into the mountains. I
grew up in Northern California, the real
Northern California, up towards the Oregon
border. It was great for hunting, fishing
and camping back then and still is in quite
a few places.
The first thing that would happen when I asked
to go fishing and camping was dad would get kind
of quiet and act like he didn't hear me ask.
When I repeated it again, mom would "shush" me
and say we'd talk about it later. Then after
some weeks mom and dad and I would go camping
and fishing and have a wonderful time, especially
dad.
I always wondered why this would happen and
they wouldn't really tell me. I found out,
at the age of 10, when dad sat me down
and told me.
He told me he had all of the camping out he
wanted in World War II on Okinawa. He said
when he went camping it reminded him of all
of the things during WW II, he told himself
he would never do again. He promised himself
neither he nor any of his family would again
sleep on the ground at night, none of them
would ever be thirsty, or hungry or bitten
by bugs and noises in the night would never
frighten him or his family. He told me a lot
more than that about his experiences back then,
but they aren't things I've ever repeated or
told to anyone and I won't now.
I asked him why it always took him so long
to decide to go and why he always had a good
time after we went. He said it took him a
while to convince himself that the things
we'd put up with, on purpose, were ok. He
said he always had a good time because we
all had a good time and that made it okey
for him. After he was done telling me the
story we went camping and fishing. Dad had
a good time. So did I.
I've always remembered dad talking to me that
day. Now, more than ever I appreciate the
sacrifices he made for me when I was a boy and
now more than ever I appreciate the sacrifices
he and others made during the war before I was
even born.
Every time one of my own kids asks me to go
somewhere, whether it's fishing, camping,
river rafting or to the mall and I'm feeling
a little like, "I don't really want to do this,"
I remember back to when I was a kid. I take
them where they want and need to go and I let
them know how lucky I am to be able to be with
them. I think about how very small my sacrifices
in life are. ~ DV, Alaska
|
