The day was beginning to lighten. The furtive and faint solar rays that entered and were received with supreme indifference, this time were awaited with great expectation. His father had promised to go out to sea to fish. Since the previous day, his imagination had been in feverish movement: from flying fish, colorful and enormously large, to pirates on the prowl, subdued by the strength and intelligence of his father. The moment had arrived. The sheets shouldn’t be a problem!
Strategically placed in the boat, without hiding their amazement at the wonders of nature, they arrived at the place where the fishing was generous. Dad and son, in harmonious joint work, deployed and lowered the nets. They tried three times. For the child, the last one was tiresome and stimulating: the father had to struggle with the final details of the task. The little boy’s face was eloquent. Moved by affection, in calculated silence, the father took a fishing rod, placed the bait, and threw it a safe distance in the hope that some fish might “bite.” His agile movement attracted the interest of the child, who, performing a happy caper, positioned himself next to him, in an attitude of active listening. While the bait exuded its charm in the limpid and deep waters, the father transmitted to him the art and “knowledge” of the fishing rod. The few and scrawny fruits collected did not seem to matter to the father, while his son’s face expressed a mixture of disenchantment and expectation for the novelty yet to come.
The scorching sun tempered its rays as if preparing for the sunset, and as a signal to return home. Suddenly, heavy rain broke out, alerting the crew. The father put the boy at the helm with the order to keep it firm and straight, while he hurried to check – for safety – the condition of the mast and deck equipment. Aside from this small impasse, the course of the return was pleasant. The boy at the helm, his father busy on deck. Both accomplices in the same adventure that had an exceptional witness: the sea.
As the years passed, before a group of friends, the son told what he learned at sea with his father. “More than imagining what a certain situation should be like, I learned that it is better to get excited and be ready with good spirits than to open yourself to what reality proposes to you in order to take control of it or give it a twist. The purpose of that day of sailing was to fish. However, strictly speaking, the result was a fiasco, not even a compassionate anchovy wanted to immolate itself. However, I learned that the most important thing is the relationship. The father and son bond was sculpted regardless of any outcome. Affection transcends and is anchored in the relationship. Even so, that day my father transmitted to me, with his example, virtues; and with his word, values, traditions, common sense and knowledge of him. But giving me the helm was believing and putting his trust in me.”
