Like  Father Like Son

Father and son bonds are the strongest connection possible. Although the road my relationship with my dad has taken is filed with mountains and valleys, at the end of the day all I remember is the view at the top. My dad and I share many fights and disagreements, but moments like camping in the backwoods of New Hampshire and waking up at 4 A.M. to fish outweigh them infinitely.

        I remember many experiences with my dad, but a few reside far above those endless mountains in our road of life. Although the climb is long and taxing the view at the top makes it worth the trip. Of these experiences, one sticks with me the most. It comes near the end of a vacation of legend in the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. We had only a few days left when we caught wind of a fishing trip. Both my dad and I are I love with fishing. A bad day fishing is better than a good day at the office. Just being out at sea, even in the cold, rough waters of New England puts our tight nerves to rest. When we found out about this trip, we knew not going was not an option. Despite complaints from my sisters and mother (who backed out at the last minute) we went. We walked out onto the pier and saw a group of six others boarding a massive fishing boat with enough roads to satisfy the most skillful fisher. Way down in the Caribbean resides a massive fish, the Marlin. Sadly Marlin season was over, but maybe these two tourists could get lucky. Probably not. 

        The boat made the long haul out to sea despite the roaring wind and the freezing rain, and soon we were two and a half miles out in the Caribbean Sea. Suddenly the wind died down and the sun broke free from the shackles of the clouds. The view was one to top any movie scene, the massive jungle mountains with a thick blanket of fog rolling over the sun lit peak. The blue, blue like the one you see in your best dreams, water was bright with the light of that ever hot southern sun. But now it’s time for fishing. As the youngest on board I was given first catch privileges, I was allowed to real in the first fish. A few minutes after wetting the lines, we heard a steady click coming from a rod. Fish on. I battled with it for a few minutes, sadly it was no Marlin, but a three foot barracuda. Finally it was gaffed and in the cooler. Many don’t know that barracuda is an edible fish, it’s not, to us at least. But the locals have grown an immunity to the small amount of poison in them. To us, food poisoning is the minimum. So the captain took my catch. My dads turn came up, and no fish. A few Bonita and a few barracuda later and it was time to head back. Sadly no Marlin on the day, but it was a day to last forever in my memory. 

        Although fight my my dad are a common, we forget our turbulence quickly, and out bond only grows stronger. Many can relate to me on this, but dads can be a pain at times, but experiences like fishing in the Caribbean and hiking the white mountains make up for this. 

At the end of the day, who really cares that I wasn’t allowed ice cream for dessert or he took my phone.

Empathy Over Marginalization 

“I never make mistakes. Only you do.”

-Fitz

The smallest act of empathy is greater than the largest act of marginalization; It is not fun to be left out of even the smallest thing, recess football in elementary school, it was not me, but when I saw this, I left my spot and let them play. We had a very competitive recess football program, where everyone was drafted that wanted to play. I was often picked first or second, I guess back then I was athletic. I watched as everyone was picked, besides one. It was a sunny spring day in the year of 5th grade, and it was to be a football game of legend. We started the draft, I was picked, than I watched and waited until the game could start. I saw someone being pushed away, “your so bad at football, we don’t want you to play!” They yelled at him. Finally they dispersed and I caught a glimpse of him. It was my friend, Arnav. They wouldn’t let him play despite his best effort, because he wasn’t good enough. This was greatly unfair, we always had everyone playing no matter how bad or good they are. This made me feel horrible so I decided to take action. I said, I wasn’t feeling well and Arnav could take my spot. This theme, of showing empathy over mistreatment and marginalization, is something that if everyone took it to heart and lived by, our world would be a far better place. Although my act of kindness was very small, and a 5th grade kind of thing, it still hits harder than any discriminatory actions. If everyone could take a minute out of their day and think, how could I make someone’s day better today. Our lives would be forever better.

Lending a Helping Hand

“You’re as much of an idiot now as you will be in 5 years.” 
-Fitz

we all have the ability to change a life. With good friends you can inspire many. There is a time for everyone when they can choose to change a life, or walk away. My baseball team and I chose to change many lives. In the summer of 2019 my Nor’easters baseball team entered the biggest tournament of our lives. Teams came all the way from Texas and Colorado to play in it. But one team stood out. They weren’t the best team, but they were a team playing for a lost teammate, and our team decided to help them out. We saw a massive banner as we entered the baseball diamond, “For number four.” We knew at once that they lost a player. We decided to befriend them, and as they were a less skilled team, we decided to play for them. I took this to heart because I know what it feels like to loose someone. It was the quarter finals and we played for the Kent Island Bucks, we all put 4’s our our cheeks and played the best game I have ever seen, until the last inning. I had pitched up until then, and we had the lead. My coach pulled me out, he trusted our star catcher to go in and pitch, and all hell broke loose. We ended up loosing, but we took home third place in the spirit of the Kent Island Buck. We didn’t care that we didn’t know them, we didn’t care that no one else was doing it, we didn’t care. We changed many lives. The experience we had was one few get the chance to have, and we chose to make the world a slightly better place instead of walking away. Everyone can do something to change a life, big or small, it doesn’t matter.