January 27th 1949 - March 28th 2005
Many years ago my wife hung a sign next to our front door that reads,
“An Old Fisherman lives here with the best catch of his life”.
That sign will always remain priceless to me and after you read my story
I hope you’ll understand and agree.
I often say to friends “I was born with a shotgun in one hand and
cane-pole in the other”. Being a
good-ole southern boy from
In 1982 I met my soul mate for life, the most beautiful, caring, loving
and understanding woman in the world, my wife.
When we first met hunting season had just started.
I was very compulsive about my hunting & fishing, spending as much
time as I could in the woods or at one of the local lake banks (I didn’t have
a boat then). She had no problem
with me heading to the woods for a few hours before stopping by to see her.
My passion for hunting and fishing became very clear to her yet for some
reason she fell in love with me and accepted me and my southern values with open
arms.
When we married I joked about having a clause added to our marriage
agreement that stated, “Any complaints about my hunting and fishing would be
grounds for divorce”, fortunately that wasn’t necessary.
For the past 22 years I’ve continued to enjoy my hunting and fishing
with no less that absolute support from my wife.
Even on two of the most important holidays of the year (Thanksgiving
& Christmas) she knew that as soon as dinner was over or the presents were
opened I would be off to the woods. During
the summer months I would be off to the lake or river fishing at least one day
each weekend again, without a single complaint from her.
Here unwavering dedication and acceptance of my love for hunting and
fishing didn’t end there. During
our weekly trips to Wal-Mart she would head for the groceries and I would head
for the sporting goods department. When
she finished her shopping she’d find me still strolling through the fishing
& hunting sections. If I
appeared to have my eyes on any particular item she would pick it up and put it
in the cart, no questions asked. If
I tried to put it back – I’d get the beautiful evil eye and she’d always
say “you deserve it – get it”.
Over the years my wife decided to try both hunting and fishing with me.
The hunting didn’t go over very well but she developed a real love for
fishing, especially bream and catfish. The
one thing she didn’t care for was my constant trolling along the bank.
She preferred to kick back in one good spot and hang a couple of lines in
the water, only moving if the fish weren’t biting.
I finally bought her a little two-man bass-buggy boat with a trolling
motor that was just perfect for some of the small lakes we fished.
On many occasions while I would be beating the bank in my bass boat for
bass, she’d be easing along bream fishing and dragging an earthworm behind the
boat on her Zebco rod & reel. I
can’t tell you how many times we met up on the lake and she would pull out a
good keeper bass to wave in front of me while I sat silently with an empty live
well.
Although she developed a love for fishing she knew that my fishing trips
were more than just outings for me. I really enjoyed being alone sometime
to unwind from all the pressures of work and raising a family.
She never asked to fish with me but would gladly go along if I invited
her.
Seven years ago tragedy struck my family twice.
In July 97’ my wife was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, had a mastectomy,
and began a yearlong treatment program of radiation and chemotherapy.
In November 97’ my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer, underwent
extensive surgery and treatment but only survived four months.
After a long hard year of therapy my wife’s cancer seemed to go away
and life somewhat got back to normal. I
continued my hunting and fishing but then had to give up my hunting due to a bad
back. As a result, I started doing
a lot of tournament bass fishing, made some really great friends, and discovered
what I now consider the greatest sport in the world - bass fishing with some of
the best friends a person could ever ask for.
A little over a year ago my wife started having problems breathing.
After countless doctor visits and tests we were informed that her once
dormant breast cancer had metastasized into her lungs, liver, and bones.
Once again she started an aggressive treatment program of radiation and
chemotherapy that’s side effects seemed worse that the disease itself.
This time the disease and treatment together are having a heavier impact
on my wife than the first battle. She’s
absolutely drained of all energy, in constant pain, struggles to breath, and
forced to remain on oxygen 24 hours a day.
She’s been in and out of the hospital and near death three times over
the past year. My responsibilities
are very clear to me. I’ve taken
over all the household chores; cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, and any
other strenuous task my wife is no longer physically capable of doing.
But my most important responsibility is making sure she’s comfortable
and flooded with all the love and attention she so deserves.
I’ve tried to put all of my wants and needs on hold but my loving and
dedicated wife will not hear of it. If
there’s a tournament coming up or a club meeting with my bests friends she
insists - even demands that I go. Her
comment is always the same “you deserve it – I’ll be alright”.
I continuously think to myself “how did I ever deserve such a wonderful
person in my life”. I must admit
though, my club meetings and tournaments with my friends are better than any
therapy session any doctor could ever offer.
They (my friends/fishing buddies) are always there for me, they listen to
me, they comfort me, they feel my pain, and they help me deal with it.
God they are some great people and again I think, “How did I deserver
such wonderful friends”.
Just recently the doctors informed us that the cancer has now spread to
my wife’s brain with over a dozen inoperable tumors.
The diagnosis is very discouraging and the doctors now say her treatments
are primarily for quality of life and pain management.
She just finished 4 weeks of whole-brain radiation and resumed an even
more aggressive chemotherapy treatment program.
Her severe pain has now spread to her head, her energy level is all but
completely gone, she still needs her oxygen 24x7, and she can only sleep sitting
up on the couch. Even with all of
this my wife’s faith and dedication are unwavering.
She still feels in her heart that with Gods help she’s going to beat
this, and I believe her. Through
all of this and regardless of how bad she feels, she still insists that I attend
every club meeting and fish every tournament.
In all of my years of hunting and fishing I’ve bagged some nice bucks,
pulled in some nice bass, and cherish some great memories and stories I can
share with my family and friends. But
above all I must say that the woman I love is without a doubt “The Best Catch
of My life”. If I should lose her
to this terrible disease I can only say that not only will God gain a perfect
Angel, he’ll also have “The Best Catch of his Life”.
To my beautiful wife Sue, I love you more than any words can express.
I only wish I could take away the pain and heal your illness so we can
once again enjoy our days together as we have in the past.
Your loving smile and enthusiasm expressed every time I walked in the
door bragging about how good of a day I had fishing or hunting, or you
comforting touch and words of encouragement and support on those not so good
days are all that I really live for.
Each day I pray for a miracle but I also realize that I’ve already had
one miracle in my life – having you as my wife.
Bob
Miles
Crestview,
Fl