People by Dan O'Sullivan

People by Dan O'Sullivan

PEOPLE

Story

BY DAN O’SULLIVAN

Y

ou know it’s times like these almost every

year that I sit here after everyone has

retired for the evening - after all the noise

has died down, after the videos are all posted and the anglers have all gone to bed, I speak

to someone who makes me remember the road I’ve

traveled, but not just the road I’ve traveled, but the

bumps I’ve encountered. And, not just those bumps

I’ve encountered, but the people who became shock

absorbers to help me get over those bumps that

might have derailed a less supported vehicle.

Mind you, I did not say “worthy” vehicle, because

that is not something I always am; none of us are.

I sit here at the 2015 Bassmaster Classic, the night

before competition begins. Mere hours away from

the beginning of an event that will change the way

somebody’s life is; quite literally forever. I’ve seen it, witnessed it from up close, and I know how much of an effect it can have on a life, a career, a family.

For some, it is this one tournament. For others, it is the occurrence of years.

Before we know it, the years have passed and we can look back in an over tired, emotional, lonely condition and realize; we never were truly alone.

God has a way of putting those blessed souls into our lives at the moments we need them most – if we pay attention and see them for the shock absorbers they are.

We like to fancy ourselves as Humvees, capable of covering land and earth, moving mountains, avoiding obstructions and surviving flat tires. Climbing mountains and rescuing the weak.

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