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“Fish Fish!”

Papi woke up to the call of Joe and John. Papi rushed over and saw the huge variety of fish the boys had caught. There was albacore and big eye tuna, and even a shark. The shark was a basking shark. It was an enormous fish, almost two thousand pounds. Papi told the boys to let it go through the net, because it was endangered. The biggest fish that Papi let them keep was a gigantic, four-hundred pound big eye tuna! “Best tasting tuna, ever, by the way!”

Papi was a tuna fisherman. He also had a family of six: a wife, three boys, and two girls. His wife, Lorraine, and his other son, Michael, stayed at home with Papi’s two daughters, Bridget and Therese. Papi’s sons, Joe and John, fished with him on the seven seas.

Life was tough. Papi worked very hard at what he did. His hands were as hard as a rock. He had the worst rope burn you could ever imagine and he had callouses all over his body. For many months at a time, he, Joe and John would not see even a glimpse of their family, or even land, as they traveled through Mexico and Panama. When they returned safely, everyone rejoiced and was happy. Papi’s return was always celebrated with a party, and Rocky Road ice cream.

When Joe and John were 16 and 18 they joined Papi on an excursion down to Mexico for what seemed like an ordinary trip. Looking back, it was one they would never forget.

On the way down, they caught fish, but not many. Papi wondered, “Was there a hole in the net?”

He checked. “No.”

“Was there a shark that ate all the fish?”

“Nope. Didn’t look like it.”

If there were fish, he’d be able to see them. He was known as “blue eyes” — cobalt blue eyes that were the sharpest around. The ocean was usually very rough that time of day, but on this day, it was surprisingly calm. There were no waves and clear blue water, and still not a fish in sight. Then, at that very second, Joe and John spotted something. Something big way off int the distance. Papi rushed over and saw what appeared to be a large fish that jumped up from the bottom and sat there, floating on the surface.

“No, a fish that big would sink if it couldn’t swim,” said Papi. “Something is wrong. We need to investigate.” Papi had a bad feeling, so he scrapped the fishing trip to figure out what that item was, bobbing at the surface.

Whatever it was, the seagulls were sure picking at it.

Papi yelled to his crew,”Bring up the net and go full speed ahead!”

They started forward and realized it was about sixty miles away. On the way, they ate good food, drank cold drinks, and had fun. But, not Papi. He had to steer the huge boat. And he kept his eye on the big thing bobbing in the ocean.

As they got close, the seagulls flew away.

“Help! Help!”

Suddenly they heard a scream! It was coming from that fish [or what ever it was], that was now swimming toward them! It was a human being!

Papi yelled, “Joe throw him life preserver.” John started pulling him up onto the boat! They were all in shock, and the man was hauled aboard, gasping for breath.

The man’s name was Kyle, and he said, “My dad built a boat and wanted to test it out, so we went to Mexico and started boating. Then a huge storm hit and our boat was crushed to smithereens. My dad swam off for help and was probably eaten by sharks. I was on my last can of water and if it wasn’t for you, I would’ve died of dehydration.” And, exhausted, he fell asleep.

Huge sharks were circling them as they pulled him up onto the boat. Papi shouted “I knew it! Sharks were under the boat eating all the fish, I knew it!” Sometimes sharks do that – they follow the fishing boats for easy meals.

Kyle’s mom lived in San Diego, so they brought him back. When they did his mom was so very grateful. News got out, and they were declared heroes.

That’s the story of Papi, my amazing grandpa.

There is a lesson in this story: Always do what’s right … always. Papi went out of his way to help that man, Kyle. Just think about it. Think long and hard.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF PAPI ! MAY HE REST IN PEACE!