~FOOTPRINTS
MINISTRY, INC.~
(BRINGING
HOPE TO BEREAVED FAMILIES)
Skip
& Jerry Mudge
6605
Mallard Park Dr
Charlotte,
NC 28269
704
509-6603
~FISHING
FOR SMILES~
SOUND BITES
Something
to chew on that is good for the soul
During the
last years of our teenage son's life, the one thing that he really enjoyed
was fishing. Even though Matthew had an aggressive form of cancer
and was exhausted from chemotherapy treatments, he was always up for a
trip.
On Friday nights
after work we'd drive the six hours from our home in Georgia to Panama
City, Florida, where we borrowed a deep-sea fishing boat. We'd get
the boat ready, then just as dawn was coloring the horizon we'd head out
to sea. Matthew's face would light up as he sat in the stern, casting
his lure into the ocean. What a thrill it was when there'd be a tug
on his line and he'd reel in a big red snapper. But eventually Matthew
got too sick to go to Panama City. He'd fish anyway, in the lakes
around Carrollton from his wheelchair. Even then, he still brought
in quite a catch.
Matthew passed
away in 1998. Whenever I look at his rod and tackle box in the garage,
I choked up. Fishing season came, but I couldn't see us driving to
Panama City without him. Then my wife Gail and I had an idea: Why
not take other kids with cancer.
So began a
program that we continue every fishing season. On Fridays we drive
down to Panama City and get the boat ready. Early the next morning
we meet a sick child and take him and his family fishing. it's work,
but when I see tired, worried looks replaced with smiles on the faces of
kids and parents alike, I know it's worth it. Every time we bring
a little light into the life of a child with cancer, we honor Matthew's
memory, and ease our own pain.
Rodney Smith
in "Guideposts", April 2001
SOUND BITES is
a free, five-day-a-wek e-mail ministry in memory of Dustin Wilkinson, 1982-1998.
Rev. Dave Wilkinson is founder and editor. SOUND BITES originates
from First United Methodist Church in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA.
"The world is our parish." Visit our web site at
http://www.firstumcgb.org/SOUNDBITES.html
~MY
EARLY MOTHER'S DAY~
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~EXCERPTS
FROM "MEMORIES"~
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~GRIEF
SUPPORT PAGE INDEX~
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Artwork "Gone
Fishing" © Copyright Beverley Lu,
used with
permission....thanks!
Visit The
Art of Beverley today.
~I WILL REMEMBER
YOU~
~Sara McLachlan~
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