We actually went to kindergarten together. His family moved away for a few years, then we ended up back at Lone Star Elementary School together in 4th grade. We were inseparable through high school and best men at each other's weddings.
A couple of weeks ago, Martin came for a visit; he knew I have been sick. He took my girls fishing in the afternoon (swears they "accidentally" fell in the lake) giving up watching the OSU football season opener to do so. Then, he comes back to the house and watches the OU football season opener with me!
For about three months, we have been planning a fishing weekend together. When I got sick, we were sure I'd be well by that weekend. Not realizing I was going to take a turn for the worse, we still made plans to go fishing. As the time was approaching, we began to realize it wasn't going to be our typical play hard-rest little weekend. He came on to Wagoner anyway, (he lives in Enid, OK) under the condition that I not over-do it and would tell him if I needed to rest or stop all together. I got Dad involved and last Friday, we took Dad's boat out on Ft. Gibson to fish for sand bass.
It was a BEAUTIFUL day; the first sunny day we'd had in two weeks. The lake was out of its banks because of all the rain we've had, but we made it work anyway. While we didn't catch many fish, we all agreed that the time spent was the real fun.
Unfortunately for me, just sitting in the back of a boat (not the boat pictured in the post below, but a nice bass boat) holding my rod was too much for me. By the time we quit (about 4 hours of 'fishing') I was totally exhausted. However, we didn't have anything to eat out at the lake, so we drove into Muskogee for supper. Afterward, we went back to the lake house and watched Lethal Weapon 4 with the surround-sound turned WAY UP!
When I woke up Saturday morning, I was a little anxious because I woke up exhausted. Nevertheless, we decided to go crappie fishing down at the dock. Sally had given strict orders that I wasn't supposed to "accidentally fall in the lake", so I found some waders to get me to the flooded walkway.
Dad caught a little catfish, Martin caught two small perch, and I got skunked! But I had the time of my life!
The Bible says "... there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Proverb 18:24) For me, this friend is Martin Whipple.
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