On bailing…

Last Saturday we stood in the graveyard to support our dear friend Dee as he paid his final respects to his dad.
The beautiful fall day gave way to blustery cold as a group of friends and family huddled together to hear words of love and respect. Dee’s mom sat in the front row completely surrounded by folks who love her. As he stood to lead the service, his hands shook and his voice broke, but his love and respect for a faithful father rang true.
He told the story of an early morning at the Cape, where they had a cottage for many years. Dee awoke to find his dad already outside. He walked toward the ocean, and there over the dune, he could see his dad’s hat moving parallel to the shore. When he finally got to the beach, there was his dad, with a boat full of water, struggling to keep it afloat and make his way back to the beach.
Dee said his dad was so relieved to see him when he crested the dune. His dad explained that he had gone fishing early and a rogue wave had crashed over the boat filling it in an instant. Now he desperately needed help to bail. So together, they bailed the sea water out of the little boat until they were finally able to turn it over and empty it. When they brought the boat safely into shore, they then spent the rest of the day cleaning salt water out of the equipment.
Dee reminded us that sometimes, our life can be overwhelmed by waves that seemingly come out of nowhere. In those times, we don’t need someone to tell us how we could have avoided this situation, but we simply need someone to help. Someone who will use their time and strength to meet us in the waves and bail.

This is part of a 31 day writing challenge. If you are interested in following along, you can find the rest of the series here. Thank you for stopping by!