Childhood Memories of Visiting Grandpa and His Fishing Treasures

Memories of youthful enjoyable experiences affect our choices of vocation and other activities throughout our lives.  Our activities and visits with our grandparents, parents, and others have a lasting effect.  Their life's work and activities are very different than ours. 

Many of us remember getting into Grandpa's fishing tacking box or his other fishing equipment. To us as a child this is like a treasure box that we have found and allowed to play with.  When he relates his fishing trips, we imagine ourselves there experiencing it too.

We thought sharing This article, Grandpa's house held trove of fishing and other treasure, written by Roger George in The Bee on September 19, 2017, 2:52 PM, would bring back some of your childhood memories too.

"It amazes me how powerful and influential early memories can be in affecting how we later view life. In my case, I have to say that my grandfather, Louie George, had a very large impact in ways that remain vivid – they still come to me as if I’m there right now. Let me paint the picture I have in my mind."

"I must have been about 5 to 7 years old, but each time we would go visit my grandparents on their small ranch in Lemoore, I would get excited. It seemed to me that I was going on a treasure hunt, one where I got to explore undiscovered new worlds centered around fishing. It fueled my imagination."

"After hugs, my first steps were always straight out the front door, then a right turn and down into their small basement on the south side of the house. That’s where Grandpa kept his main tackle, right next to the big freezer. There were all kinds of wonderful things I could go through and inspect, starting with the big ocean rods and reels he used down in Mexico. What were all those heavy weights, spoons and giant hooks used for anyway? Grandma stored all of her Mexico stuff there, too, like pottery"

"Between the damp smells of a cement basement, the narrow stairs going down into the bowels of the earth (or so it seemed to me!) and the single light bulb casting its low yellow glare over the exotic tackle strewn about, it all added up to my very own secret cave full of treasure for a young, impressionable boy! Each time I went down there, I was sure I would find another previously undiscovered prize. It was my secret place, and I didn’t usually let my two younger sisters down there much. The smells, feeling and wonder of it all made me want to go fish and do what Grandpa was doing! I was enthralled by it all."

"The second secret place was the small upstairs cedar-walled room above my grandparents’ garage. Going up the stairs that high made the place a unique fortress in my mind. Filled with more fishing and hunting stuff as well as mounts of birds, deer and fish, it had that special outdoors feel a cedar-walled room always has. Where had those animals or fish come from, and what was the story behind each of them? Soon I knew that every mount did have a story and each represented a victory! I wanted one, too, … someday, somehow!"

"There were chester drawers full of old pictures, and dusty old machines and stuff I imagined had to be used for hunting or something! From above I could look out the second-story window and dream I was in my own treehouse. I spent hours there, alone, dreaming and imagining, surrounded by a legacy to which I aspired. Don’t think that doesn’t have a lasting, profound impact on a youngster."

"To this day, whenever I walk into a cedar-lined room like that, it takes me back to those days of childlike wonder. I knew what I wanted to do – and it wasn’t video games. I wanted to be a part of every trip. I could feel the specialness of what Dad and Grandpa did each time they went fishing or hunting. It was their world and I wanted to be a part of it. This environment laid the foundation for a simple vision that still drives me."

"Being a young boy with a world to explore, a clear-cut dream and a place to use my imagination in a healthy way were blessings I didn’t fully appreciate till later. Simple, powerful and driven in deep. Old school? You bet! Never give up!"

We all have memories unique to childhood. This is just one example of enjoyable and much anticipated activities that have made memories for us.

This article was printed in The Fresno Bee, link