How many of you remember your fifth birthday? I do. I remember it vividly. I remember eating pancakes and bacon, I remember having a woodtick on my neck, I remember catching a lake trout, I could probably lead you to the campsite on Whitefish Bay of Lake of the Woods near Nestor Falls, Ontario even though I haven't been there for more than 20 years. I turned 5 on a rock in Canada fishing with my Dad and his friend Tom. My Dad taught at an elementary school in International Falls and Tom was his principal. That was 1971. In the next 10 years I got to fish with Tom many many times. He was an excellent fishing partner. He treated me very kindly and along with my Dad filled my young life with hundreds of exciting memories. Tom and my Dad are still fishing together. Here is a picture of a shark they caught in the Gulf of Mexico last Friday. In the top picture, the shark got loose and clamped on to the boat seat as hard as snapping turtle grabs a stick. I don't fish as much as Tom does, probably only 4-5 times per year, but when I do, I'm usually remembering something he taught me over 30 years ago.
P.S. 25 years later in 1996, Ronnie also turned five years old on a rock in Canada.
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