FISHING WITH HELGRAMITES..

I don't know how many summers we spent going up to Kennerdall. Two, three maybe four but each time there was excitement of some kind...My mother and Mae used to go out in the aluminum boat and fish. They had their fishing licenses on their hats and loaded with bate and poles...One time I specifically remember they returned with nearly 30 suckers..They had little pink mouths that stuck out..they were on stringers and when they returned they were still alive and breathing...It seemed to be a big joke that all they returned with was a stringer of sucker fish. I remember, Frank  used to go out late at night with a lantern to capture helgramites....they were ugly flying bugs apparently the fish loved them. This made Frank a successful fisherman and he never went out at night in the boat without coming home hours later with  many fish from the wee hours of the quiet morning. When my Dad cleaned his fish, I always wanted to see inside the fish and check out his guts...I should have been a doctor...sometimes he would cut things out of the fish..open it and explain what parts he would put in my hand...I especially remember the fish's heart. I asked him if I could have that heart...He laughed and cut it out and handed it to me on my hand...I also remember watching it beat...right there..it throbbed in the palm of my hand...I held it until the movement stopped. I felt so sad!!..I knew that we would eat the fish, but for the heart to be beating in my hand, made me feel death. I felt the actual death of that fish!! It is hard to explain...but I think compassion dripped into me drop by drop for the first time!!....