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“I’m sure that being in a wheelchair has been very hard on him,” Coop said as he reeled his line in a bit.
“It’s been hard on all of us, especially my mom, Joanne. She has pretty much become his main caregiver.”
“Does she work?”
“She cleans part-time at the Ford Plant, but only three days a week on the nights that one of us can help out with Dad. I typically go on Mondays,” Cara said as she threw her line out again.
“Does he need a lot of help?”
“Not so much anymore, but my mom likes someone to be at home with him just in case. My dad on the other hand… let’s just say he hates having ‘babysitters’ as he calls us…”
“I’m sure that’s tough for a man…”
“It is… some days are better than others, though. Especially when his granddaughter visits him.”
“Gabrielle?”
“Yes, but she only lets us call her Gabby,” Cara laughed. “Except for my dad. He always calls her Gabrielle and she never says a word. It’s like it’s their special bond or something. It’s really sweet… it reminds me of how he used to be with me…”
“I’m sure he misses that just as much…”
“I’m not so sure about - HOLY CRAP I GOT A BITE!!” Cara screamed as she realized that her bobber had just disappeared under the surface of the water.
“Set the hook, girl!” Coop yelled as he quickly reeled in his line so he could help her if needed.
“Oh, it’s set! He’s a big one…” Cara grunted as she reeled faster, the bobber now appearing closer to the shore. About a foot behind the bobber a flash of silver appeared momentarily as the fish tried to shake the hook.
“You ain’t kidding, girl! Look at that! Yeah, buddy!” Coop encouraged with the fervor of a father who wanted nothing more than for his child to just catch one fish and make the trip a memorable one.
“Come on fishy… come to mama!” Cara coaxed as she reeled the fish in close enough to shore so that Cooper was able to grab the line near the top of her now completely bent rod to prevent it from breaking.
“Look at that bad boy!” Coop exclaimed as he grabbed the largemouth bass by putting his giant thumb inside its lower lip and held it up for Cara to see. Even compared to his large hands, this fish was huge.
“Holy crap!” Cara yelled. “That’s the biggest bass I’ve ever caught!”
“I’m guessing he’s at least 6 pounds and almost a foot long. You go girl!”
“Bring it here! I want to hold it… I wish I brought a camera...”
“I have one on my cell phone. It’s not the best but it’ll do the trick.”
Coop handed Cara the bass and pulled out his cell phone, which was a Motorola Razr Vc3 flip phone that featured a pretty good digital camera for 2006.
“Say cheese…” Coop said as Cara beamed next to her catch.
“Hold on, I have to kiss him now,” Cara informed Coop.
“Kiss him?”
“When I was little my dad used to always make me give the fish I caught a kiss before throwing them back in the water so that I wouldn’t be afraid of them.”
“Well then, don’t get no ideas Mr. Bass...she’s with me…” Coop said as he mockingly shook a finger at the fish before Cara released the beast back into the wild.
“I didn’t peg you for the jealous type…” Cara said as she playfully approached Coop.
“Did you see his lips? How can I compete with that?”
“Oh, forget about him, he’s already gone…”
