THE FISH STORY: HAPPY FATHERS DAY

Walter and my Dad

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the Brad Williams podcast. Wherever you find your podcast, this is Turn the Page Hope Through the Storm. Not sure how many episodes in we're into this by now, but uh well over a year and uh and counting, and uh feels good to be able to be back on here, especially on Monday Father's Day 2026. It's 21st day of June. Is it also the first day of summer time? I think it is the first day of summer. So uh happy summer and happy Father's Day uh to all the dads out there, the uh the dads, those that are an inspiration to others, whether you are specifically a dad or not, maybe you're in that role, maybe you are a stepfather, uh, maybe you are uh somebody that uh certainly has changed the life of another in some fashion as a dad would. Uh this podcast is uh for you, and it uh marks um how many years now? Twenty we figured this out, twenty-seven years since my uh my dad passed away, and uh not a father's day has gone by since that I uh certainly don't think of him and uh think of him often. Uh not just on Father's Day, but uh pretty much always, but especially on Father's Day, uh missing my dad uh today. And uh for those of you that have lost your dads, I know I'm thinking about a couple other people, my wife specifically. Uh she lost her dad this past year, so this is uh her first Father's Day without her dad. Also thinking a lot about our good friends uh Julia and Dave uh Snyder, Marie Bendix, of course. Um they are um without David, without their dad, without Marie's husband, Dave, on uh this Father's Day, also. So uh specifically a couple there that uh I'm uh keeping close to my heart here today as well. And uh I was talking about doing a podcast this morning over a spot of coffee with my wife, and uh she kind of inspired me to uh talk about uh my dad today, and um so this is gonna be the fish story. I just want to mention also, I just kind of wanted to quickly because I try to do these where I give uh kind of an update on uh health-wise and all that kind of thing, uh doing extremely well, very blessed. Jesus has the wheel here, and uh so does Lakewood Health and uh my hat off to both in that order. Jesus first, then Lakewood Health, and uh continue to do well and um uh you know, some infusion things going on weekly, that kind of thing, but in the big scheme of things, I remain in remission. My next PET scan comes up in October. That will be the two-year mark. That's a biggie. So appreciate thoughts, prayers, concerns, positive vibes, that kind of thing. Uh not just for me, but for anybody uh remotely going through anything like this. Not specifically a person, but maybe it's a family, a friend, member, uh, whoever you are out there. Keep those folks uh high and mighty tight to your prayer line uh for sure. Okay. Um so in 1999 I lost my dad to colon cancer on June the first, ninety-nine. And uh it was then that he made uh I think my whole family was tested, but he made my brother and I specifically I remember promise him to get tested before he had passed when he was he was pretty close to hospice and that kind of thing already at that point. But uh so sure enough, I uh got tested, and that I was 37 at that time, and uh I did have a couple of uh polyps that did test positive, but they were in the extremely early stages. And what I remember back then was um I had to go, you it wasn't, you know, you couldn't just hop into the hospital or you uh your local healthcare facility and say I'm getting a colonoscopy. At that time it was pretty much uh you need to it needed to be a referral, and at that time it was uh in St. Cloud. And I I remember uh the doctor that did the uh the colonoscopy told me afterwards that he said, you know, your dad probably saved your life. Um because had that had that gone untested in me, um, could have been uh bad news bears down the road there a little ways. So uh anyway, uh I guess the um the thought to that is the advice. If I could give you some free advice, uh guys, get tested. Simple as that. Um early detection is the best, and Mr. Dr. Wade Swenson would tell you that uh, and you know, he preaches that uh to his patients across the board, the rural health care, rural oncology, rural cancer care. Um, you know, that's uh still a big, big part of it for sure. And obviously, the uh you know, the medicine, the advancements have come so so far. So uh anyway, just uh but I think about my cancer journey and I can't think about it without thinking about my dad, and I know he's looking down on me, and uh I just uh I can't even tell you how many times I've said I wish that uh had it been a different time that my well both my parents actually, because I lost my mom to ovarian cancer, um would have uh had a chance to see what is going on at Lakewood Health System and the incredible world-class care that is available there. Um anyway, I just just a back thought and uh anyway, let's uh hop right to it here. I um my wife told me I need to tell the f the fish story today. And this is uh this is a I've shared it with a few people, and uh here it is for the world. I I don't remember if Cory and I ever I think we talked briefly about bits and pieces of this on the air a number of years ago when I was working at the super station. Uh anyway, uh here it is. It's the fishing story. So I grew up on uh Lake Shaman, south south and a bit east of Motley. And um over the years, um growing up on that lake, um, you know, like I was just I'm gonna probably ramble a bit here, but I just think about my childhood and you know the fact that we were practically teenagers before we even had a boat, like literally. And uh, you know, I think we had a a small boat that would, you know, and somebody had a motor that you would borrow from a relative that you could use occasionally, that kind of thing, but uh just different times. And um and I remember fishing with my dad from time to time on that lake, but we mostly enjoyed the lake recreationally, water skiing and tubing and swimming off the dock and that kind of thing. But um over the years, um I want to say probably at some time, I think in the early 70s, the Department of Natural Resources stocked muskie in uh Lake Shamanau. And uh it's gotten to be uh kind of a big deal in that lake uh today. And if anybody that is a muskie person, uh you may know that. Um I don't I don't claim to be like Joe Fisherman, I'm just not. I I like fishing, I love fish, but you know, I'm not uh the guy that's has the boat that's gonna head out and and uh head for you know walleye or bass or muskie, whatever. Um but anyway, growing up on that lake, over the years, um occasionally you'd see a muskie and it might be, I don't know, what we say, probably uh two feet in length, just a little guy, just a baby. And uh somewhere along, probably um I would venture this to probably be early 90s. I don't I don't I'm not gonna have specific years, but um we'll just go with early nineties. Um we'd put the dock in every year, and you know, it seemed like all of a sudden, I don't know, maybe that's it been happening for a little bit, but there was uh what we called a pretty good sized muskie. My dad nicknamed him Walter from the uh movie on Golden Pond. And if anybody ever saw On Golden Pond, you know what I'm talking about. Walter was the big fish that uh they could never catch, and if they did, they could it would get you know break off the line or whatever. But anyway, my uh dad nicknamed this muskie Walter. And uh even though as this fish is growing in length and uh that kind of thing, every year we'd put the dock in, it would maybe be within a few weeks, you could walk on the dock, and in those first panels, you know, from from the sh you know, the shore on out, this fish would come sliding out in a couple feet of water, and you'd see it kind of slither out, and not in a big hurry, just kind of like wow, that's a that's a big fish. That's a big old fish there. Um anyway, and it would disappear, and if there was commotion, if there was kids swimming, or people, you know, if we were using the boat in and out water skiing, whatever, uh, didn't really pay much attention. Next thing you know, it might be a few days later, a week later, when all is calm again, and you could walk down, and there would be Walter, and he would come out from uh underneath the dock, and he might swim a few feet away and just kind of sit there, and it's it's almost like you look at it and go, is there something wrong with that fish? Like, is it not healthy? But and I don't know. My dad told me that he doesn't necessarily hunt there, he just lives there, and that's why he didn't seem real aggressive. And uh anyway, um fast forward through the years, right? Every year there would be Walter. My dad convinced, same fish. I have no reason to doubt that man. Zero percent. And uh every year a little bit bigger fish, right? I remember one year sitting on the uh in what was probably about four feet of water, nice probably late July, early August day, and in between my feet that are dangling in the water, I see the head of this like what seemed to be like a dinosaur of a fish. I mean it probably I would say you know, the stories the fish always get bigger, right? Well, I would say a good six, seven inch width of a mouth and had on this fish, and it was right underneath my feet, and I would just froze. And it was Walter, and he did his thing, went and and uh swam a few feet away, just kind of stood there, and then all of a sudden something might spook him, and boom, he'd be gone like a shot, right? And uh anyway, I just remember that vividly. And uh also over the years, my dad really got into uh just a lot of respect for Native Americans and people that lived this land long before we got here, right? And even my grandfather, you know, he would find different relics, arrowheads, different things um on the property over the years. But my dad was really kind of into that thing. So he had a gentleman that was really big time into rendezvous and that kind of thing, Native American, he had uh made him a teepee, uh like a legit, authentic teepee, and hand whittled the you know the the the you know the tree, you know, the the stakes. Um it was really interesting to see this thing go up and uh you know with the rope and everything and and uh he'd light a fire in there and you know smoke would go out through the roof, through the top of the teepee, and if it were you could be in there, it could be pouring rain, and the rain would you know be trickling down uh down the teepee stakes, you know, the the wood and nothing inside the tent, everything outside. It was just amazing, it was unreal, you know. Like how they how they uh engineered back then, and they did. They figured it out, right? Anyway, just kind of cool. So that setting on the lake was pretty surreal. Uh east end of Lake Shamra, teepee'd be up, smoke rolling out of there, people would be coming by in the evenings on a nice night in their pontoons, and just you know, can you only imagine that scene, right? Anyway, that kind of ties in with Walter a little bit because my dad would have the grandkids and stuff paint something on the teepee. Like I think my nephew painted a uh you know, a fish, and you know, somebody painted a deer, and just things that were kind of cool uh to that side of it. So anyway, over the years, uh my dad enjoyed coming home, jumping on the lawnmower, light a little fire in the teepee, maybe fish a little bit, maybe see what Walter's doing, and the story goes on. And uh so they lived. And uh I remember my dad would catch him. He could fish off the dock, and I know one time for sure he caught him and uh reeled him in. I wasn't there, he was just telling me about this, and he let him off the hook and sent him back into the water along his way. This happened a couple of times over the years. One time, don't remember the year exactly, just a few years before my dad passed away. Somebody, there was a uh a party fishing, muskie fishing, and they were on that side of the lake and they caught him. And there was an audience of people, and by now Walter is like full on, this is a muskie. And they uh fought back and forth, reeled him in, and you know, they're taking pictures and they're hooting and hollering and woo-hoo, and we thought for sure that was the end of Walter, you know, and you know, who could be grudge anybody for, you know, I mean that's a that's that's a wall hanger there, right? Anyway, um they went out by the island and released him, and uh, we did not see Walter that year again, but he was back the following spring. Same fish. So we'll uh fast forward to uh June 1 of 1999, the morning that my dad passed away. It was around 5 a.m. And um and it was uh it was an absolute gorgeous um June day. It was just beautiful. The sun came up, you know, as it does this time of the year early in the morning between 4 30 and 5, light starting to crack, and and uh my dad was really struggling that morning and uh pretty well out of it. Um yeah, just um it's not a super easy story to tell, but um anyway, we lost my dad that morning. He went to be with Jesus, and um I remember a little later on that morning there was family and everything, we're all there, and uh my dad was really good friends with Joel Brenny from uh Brenny Funeral Home in Staples and uh Brainerd now, I guess. But um anyway, Joe came out to uh to get dad and uh take him to the uh to the funeral home and begin the process of preparing for his funeral. And uh I suppose it was around I don't know, uh I would say between 8 30 and 9, maybe 9 30, another extremely good friend of my dad's, uh Donnie Gold, who was uh there was a group of guys that were so close uh back then. Donnie Gold was uh the Gold family was uh was a treasure for sure. Still, still are and um anyway, Donnie had a cabin on the lake just around the corner of the bay. There was there was our place. Um to the left of us was uh Alan Linda Card and my uncle uh Paul Candleberry, and then from his place was Donnie Gold's cabin. And you could literally, I mean, it was you know that whole stretch was a quarter mile in between and uh kind of neat lakeshore property because not crowded, right? I mean, now you look nowadays and there's you're just on top of each other, but at that time it was uh still kind of private, really, in a way. And uh anyway, phone rang and I happened to answer it, and it was Donnie Gold, and um he said to me, He goes, Brad, he goes, um, what is floating out in front of the dock? He goes, it looks like uh like a log. And I'm like, what are you talking about? And you know, because we're all just family, and in that moment, when you lose, you know, your dad, it's you're not thinking about necessarily the lake and what may or may not be floating just past the dock. And there was some cattails down in there and that kind of thing, so you're kind of looking through there. So um, and Donnie said to me, he goes, It's Walter. Yeah, like you can't make this up. And um it was Walter and uh he gave up his ghost that morning too. And um I don't know, I would I probably would want to think at the same moment. Probably, I mean why not? You live your life with him, and uh you catch him and you put him back, you watch somebody else catch him when he's a trophy and he comes back. And um that's my fish story. So to all the dads out there. Happy Father's Day. If yours happens to still be here, go make a memory. That's gonna wrap it up. This is the Brad Williams Podcast. Happy Father's Day. Thank you to my wife who encouraged me to share this story. It is 100% true all the way across, and I don't need to prove it to anybody but me. Um hope you're all doing good. Wherever you get your podcast, it's the Brad Williams Podcast. Uh check it out. Uh pass the word. Hope everybody's doing well. It's a beautiful uh June 21st out there. Hope everybody's uh having a good weekend with their uh dads or uh family and uh sharing some good memories. Until the next time, uh you have been listening to the Brad Williams Podcast. Thank you. Oh restless win. Up to your old tricks again. To get back where I started.