Jan 13, 2013 - For Mike...

          I'm writing this with an extremely heavy heart and tears in my eyes. They say god works in mysterious ways but, I don't understand why this happened or how. For some reason I'm relating to this more than your average everyday person should...

          The ocean. We think beach, fishing, calming effect of the sound of waves and beauty. We never think of the danger and how rough the seas can get. I can't wrap my head around drowning, or how fast an accident like falling overboard can happen. There is an uncertainty of coming back home every time you get on a boat. The weather can change as fast as a blink of an eye and the seas can get pretty scary.

        My father is a lobster fisherman and has been for almost 30 years which means I don't really know him as anything other than a work-a-holic. Getting up at 3am to go out fishing until supper time, to earn a hard day's pay. When I was just a kid my dad fell overboard and almost lost his life. I was just a kid, I didn't really understand what had happened. But recently I got a cold taste of reality. A local guy, in his early 20's, my age group, fell overboard and searched for hours upon hours to what eventually lead to calling the search off. What the coast guard said "It would be impossible to find him alive at this point." But everyone still had that little gleam of hope....

        You always hear of these things happening, but you never think it'll happen to one of your own. Fisherman around here all come together when tragedy hits. They all feel like they've lost something, one of their boys. Fisherman have a funny way of telling if another guy is a fisherman. Instict? or maybe it's just the wrinkles of hard work on their faces. But these past couple days and you don't see wrinkles of a hard life's work. You see sadness and discouragement in their eyes. They have a pull on their hearts that won't be lifted for a while. Everytime they leave the wharf and watch the sun rise, when the waves crash against their boats to when the sun sets, they'll all be thinking... " I wonder what happened...." or " Where could he of gone..." We all live in little fishing villages and when tragedy like this strikes, everyone feels the pull is has on our hearts, fishermen especially because they live with this fear in the back of their minds, knowing theres a slight possibility they wont make it home.

        I've done projects for school on Lobster fishing, and you'd ask them... " Can you swim" Most of them say no. You're taken back and say " well... arn't you scared?" ... They all say no. They say " We have life belts and a life raft..we'll be safe." Most of them say they don't even think about it...that they love the job so much that the love of it overshadows the fear of the water.  Then you ask them, do you wear your lifebelt. Most of them give a smart remark like "Oh we only wear them if we feel like we need it" But what I don't understand is accidents can happen so fast, that you wouldn't have time to run in the wheel house and get your lifebelt.

         Now I should probably practice what I preech by wearing a life belt whenever I go on boats, but I don't. I give a cocky answer like "I don't need one, I can swim." Today I'm thinking, I can swim.. but how long could I swim for.... how long could I really last if I were to fall overboard? .... It's something to think twice about....

     

         I may have not known Mike, but most of my friends did. I see the tremendous amount of heartbreak they are going through. So I wrote Mike a letter, I may not understand why this happened but I myself too am greving because I think, What if... this happened to someone I'm close to, like dad, or a lot of my really close friends. So here it goes.....

Mike,
       
      I may not know you but I am praying hard for you. I pray that they find you somewhere out there in that deep blue ocean and bring you home safe. We might have crossed paths one time or another, whether it was at the bar on a Saturday night, in the hallway at the mall or maybe we drove by each other somewhere. Either way you are in my thoughts. I may not have known you but I can sure as hell tell you were one wikked dude by the pictures I've seen and by the stories I've heard. You were really loved and cared for by everyone who did know you. I kinda wish I would of met you and been able to share stories I had with you, but I don't. The only story I'll ever know myself, is this one. And it's not one a person wants to remember...



        God works in mysterious ways, and today some of us may be angry with him for taking you away from us. It's not fair that such a young guy like you is missing from our lives. A young guy, that just by pictures and facebook posts, could tell was loved. A guy with his whole life ahead of him. Wherever you are out there, I don't know if you're going to find your way home or if your last resting place will be out there but people are pulling for you.

       I don't know where you are, if you're still out there fighting for your life or if you're watching over us now but, people are keeping you in their thoughts. Please watch over all the guys out there today and for the rest of their days. Keep all the boats safe from the minute they go out until the minute they come back. Make sure they are well taken care of. Whether we know you, or don't know you, we are thinking of you.

         So until I do see you again, Keep fishin'...

       Rest Easy, Mike. In fair winds and calm seas.

-Chris...


"For those of us left behind, the vast unmarked grave which is home for those lost at sea is no consolation. It can't be visited, there is no headstone on which to rest a bunch of flowers... The only place we can revisit them, is in our hearts, or in our dreams. "  - The Perfect Storm.