When I was younger I remember seeing a picture of my dad and some other family members posing with their big catches of the day from their fishing trip. Since then I have always thought how fun it would be to go do that with my dad. Unfortunately, that time never came to fruition until today.
I met up with our fishing guide, Jerry Mecham, and one other gentleman named Henry. Instead of their being 4-6 of us, there ended up being only 2 of us and good ole Jerry.
     To say this was the perfect day would be an understatement. To say it was a perfectly blessed , heaven sent experience to remember would get us almost close to a decent explanation;) As soon as we got on the boat Jerry asked me why I was going fishing.  He told me he enjoyed my correspondence with him prior to the trip, and that he was excited to make it the best day for me cause he felt my enthusiasm for this adventure through our emails.  I replied to his question with, "well, let's get the awkward out of the way", as I pulled out Tough Bear and gave him and Henry a very simple brief explanation. As I was telling them, Henry reached and grabbed his wallet and told me he wanted to add to the awkwardness. He then pulled out a picture of his grandfather, Lico.  He was doing this fishing trip in honor of his grandfather who had always wanted to fish in Alaska and passed away last year without ever having the opportunity. It took all the strength I had not to burst out in to tears of joy and laughter. How amazing that out of the thousands of people that entered Ketchikan today from the ships, I was blessed to have Henry share in the same pursuit of adventuring with me.

(Henry holding Tough Bear and his picture of his grandfather, Lico)

     Jerry loved that he was able to be the one sharing this experience with us and he definitely showed us that in the way he went above and beyond to exceed any expectations we might have had.  It was almost like having a father figure there because he kept saying what a great job we were doing, and shared in the joy and excitement of every bite and catch, (even for the ones that got away).  I wish I could have gotten a picture of his face when the big bite of the day for me came in.  I'm not sure who was happier, me or Jerry.  We were for sure guaranteed to catch some Pink Salmon, but he didn't think we would really catch anything else but was hopeful for us anyway.  He had every reason to be.  I caught the biggest fish, the most fish, and the ONLY Silver Salmon of our boat.  Man oh man, my cheeks haven't stopped hurting from the hours of a permanent grin on my face.

                                                                 (First catch of the day)

                                                                        (Silver Salmon)

                                                           (Jerry, me, and our prize fish)

                                                                       (The View)

                                                                           (The Loot)

                                                                 (My Hero Jerry)

                                                                    (The Proof!)

 Being surrounded by nature while having some solitude from the busy life of my world, I have been able to feel a closeness to my parents that I have not felt since they were alive. I drove around this afternoon to soak in what I was feeling and stumbled upon some of God's creations that only helped add to the calm my heart and mind had been feeling most of the day.

Of course my day wouldn't and couldn't have ended perfectly without 1000 pictures of this evenings sunset.

I couldn't be more thankful for the ups and downs of life that have taught me so much about myself. I'm sincerely grateful for the opportunities when I can love, help, and support those in need. I can't wait to see where this endeavor will lead me and, hopefully, it will be able to help others along the way.  If I am the only one to learn and grow from my time with Tough Bear though,  I will still be confident that it is a mission that was definitely accomplished.  Until our next adventure.....