This week in Sportsman’s Paradise:

I am no longer eligible to attend the “young adults” Sunday School class at church. If we had a “senior” choir, I would likely be the oldest one there, bifocals, hearing aides and all. My walking cane would be close at hand to prevent me from tumbling into the soprano section. I’m relieved that our church has an elevator; I can only look wistfully at those long stairs. Let’s face it; Father Time has caught up with me and he and I have become close friends.
Having said all that, one of the fortunate things old guys like me have is a vast store of memories we can take from the shelf, dust off and relive. Among my favorites are being dad to a pair of exceptional daughters, Cathy and Kayla. They’re grown and have children and grandchildren of their own. While they were growing up, my memories look back on those days when as little fellows, I introduced them to some of the things I love, and that includes taking them with me to the pond, baiting their hooks and watching their eyes grow wide when they caught a fish.
When Kay and I married – we’ll have our 40th wedding anniversary July 11 – she brought to our marriage a bonus daughter for me in 10 year old Melissa. It was the same with her, taking her fishing, teaching her to drive, everything I taught Cathy and Kayla.
As rewarding and satisfying as has been being there as these three daughters of mine were growing up, it’s a toss-up as to whether interacting, rearing and raising these girls was as satisfying or sometimes even more so than when they began to fill my coffer with grandchildren. Kayla has four; Cathy and Melissa each have three.
Ah, grandchildren. The Good Lord has blessed me with these ten and being a part of their lives as they have grown up has added a quality to my life that is hard to describe.
There, however, is a problem. Today, Kayla’s four are scattered from Missouri to North Carolina while one of Cathy’s girls lives in Missouri and the other is teaching school in Hawaii. Her special needs son lives with her and her husband near Baton Rouge.
I’m thankful for Melissa who with her husband, lives just 50 miles away near Minden and I have access to her three, at least for awhile until they grow up and head into the world on their own. Her oldest just graduated from high school and is headed for college in Texas. One will be a senior this school year while the youngest will enter seventh grade. I still have access to these three for a brief window of time and am soaking up the hours I get to spend with them.
Just last weekend, the three were here for a few days with us and I jumped at the opportunity to do some special things with them, things that Ruston has available I was sure they would enjoy. That included a trip to a blueberry farm north of town where I turned them loose in the blueberry patch where they filled buckets with blueberries.
Next stop was to get peaches and not only were they able to bring ripe peaches back home, they enjoyed sitting in the shade with peach ice cream.
While this is not my typical outdoors column where I write about hunting and fishing, it’s just that my heart has been full of late as I look back on my life and how God has blessed me with three daughters I had the privilege of mentoring as they grew up.
The cherry on top is having the same opportunities with their offspring that has allowed me to keep doing what I love to do, at least for awhile longer. Thank you Lord for kids and grandkids.