The Escanaba Wind

The Escanaba Wind may have cancelled three days of the AOY Championship, but it also brought a gift: time.

“Give me love…”

Dateline:  A Marina Picnic Table

What if, there is no such thing as random.

What if, there is no such thing as chance.

What if, the winds of Escanaba, were sent here for a reason.  What if, the winds of Escanaba carried on them a message.

And what if that message was simply…

…slow down.

Slow down, in the Escanaba Wind.

Slow down, our game, the frantic nature of the sport, slow down the pace at which we race through life.

In my heart I believe The Escanaba Wind, was good for us.  It gave us time to be friends, and not just competitors, it gave us time for family, it gave us time to know our sponsors, it gave us time to meet with and spend more than just a moment with our fans.

And for me, it gave me time, to meet a man and his dog.

“…give me light…”

I will not tell you his name, I will not show you his face, I will not give you clues as to who he is, but I will only tell you this about the man and his dog,

the man only has a few months to live.

Prostate cancer spread up his spine and now is eating his brain.

“db, I have to tell you something, this is my last trip, the last trip of my life with my wife and my dog. Things for me are going to change soon, won’t be able to travel, my doctor told me to get my things in order and enjoy life, so when I saw the Elites were coming here, me and the wife packed up the RV and drove on up. I love to fish, and I love these guys…”

He told me, “I really came to see if I could meet Randy Howell.”

He told me, “I really came to see if I could meet Kevin Short.”

He told me, “I really came to see if I could meet you, db.”

Random winds.

Chance winds.

You won’t get me to believe that, you won’t get me to believe that it was just luck that Randy Howell, that Kevin Short, were stuck on shore.

The Escanaba Wind kept them there, kept me there, I believe, kept us there for the man and his dog.

Kept us there, for his final trip.

Kept us there, because on the Kind in Man, floated on The Escanaba Wind.

“…up ahead on the journey…”

“It is hard on my wife, db, it is hard on my kids, but you know, instead of going through all that treatment, treatment that may only just postpone stuff, treatment that will be tough on me, instead of doing that I told my wife…”

And then the man across the picnic table from me started to cry.

And then the man across the picnic table from me reached down and started to pet his dog.

And then, I started to cry to.

“…when I first came up to you back over there by the Yamaha booth and asked you to sign my hat, I didn’t want to say anything to you about what was going on with me because my wife was standing right next to me and when I talk about it she gets really upset…”

And then the man across the picnic table started to pet his dog, and once again, cry.

I was leaving the event, was done, all my stories were in, I was packed and moving on, when I spotted this man walking down the sidewalk in my direction.

“…I was hoping I would find you here, db…”

And he never would have, had it not been for, The Escanaba Wind.

“…give me strength…”

“…I told myself, db, don’t know exactly how much time I have left here on earth but no matter how much, how little, I am going to live, I am going to live every moment of it…”

And as he told me that I could see behind him several Elite anglers playing a game where you throw beanbags through a hole in a board.

And as he told me that I could see behind him Randy Howell and his wife, Robin, playing with and hugging their two young boys.

And as he told me that I could see behind him B.A.S.S. workers sitting with each other eating BBQ, I could see Elite anglers standing and talking and getting to know their fans, I could see sponsors hanging out in other sponsors booths….

“…I never much had time for all that before, I’m 64, worked all my life, now I’m going to work at living all the life I got left.”

“…when I'm standing…”

Give me, The Escanaba Wind.

Do I think it hurt this tournament, no, slowed it down some, yes, but hurt it, not in the least.

It was The Escanaba Wind that gave us the best gift this year, time with each other, time with you.

Time, for a man and his dog.

“db…I’m so glad that I had the chance to meet you in person, if you write anything about our little talk here, please write this, life, life is so short…”

And once again, the dog was pet.

And once again, strangers shared tears.

“…tell them folks who read you, all the little stuff they get all upset about, it, it don’t matter none…”

“…tell them folks who read you, family matters, friends matter…”

“…tell them folks who read you, love matters, and that most of all…”

Do I believe the Escanaba Wind was just some random weather event.

No.

Do I believe the Escanaba Wind hurt this event.

No.

Do I believe, for me, that there was a message floating in the Escanaba Wind.

Yes.

“…and that most of all, most of all db…”

And then came the message meant for us all…

“…most of all db, time matters.”

…a message told softly, by a man and his dog…

…and delivered by…

The Escanaba Wind.

“…and faith when I fall.”

Faith When I Fall

Kip Moore

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