Big Fish

Eufaula Lake stores up a bagillion of my favorite childhood memories. One of my most cherished is fishing for crappie with my grandpa and my dad. We'd go down to the dock and stick our hands deep in this metal bucket to get these flippy slimy little minnows and then i'd stick the hook right through their itty bitty bottom lip and then we'd hurl the itty bitty fishy out into the wide Eufaula morning. I'd sit out there on that big dock, my feet hanging ankle deep in the brown water. And I remember how all my hopes and excitement were scooped up into the prospect of one day catching the Big Fish. I mean we always fished for crappie my whole entire life. We'd fix it so tasty all fried with the tartar sauce on the side. Crappie was dependable. Safe. Expected. I always loved crappie. Always Will. But sitting there with my minnow deep down in the murky Eufaula I'd think to myself...but what about the Big One. What about the 200 ton whale that you are just certain has got to be lurking at the depths of the Eufaula and what if just this once he decided to munch on my minnow? So I'd sit there dreaming about that wonderful mysterious whale and suddenly that was the exact thing that every single part of me hoped for.
Last Thursday, March 19th I held my breath and opened a tiny red box at the OU Medical School Match Day Banquet. It read as follows: Albert Einstein Medical Center, Otorhinolaryngology, Bronx, NY.

For so long I'd debated whether to rank Oklahoma or NYC as my top choice for residency. After hours of debate and advice from friends and family, I chose to place NYC on top. And so just like the minnows and the crappie and the whale, I'd cast my rod with comfort and contentment at the idea of the crappie and the flicker of excitement at the prospect of the whale. And last Thursday in that tiny red box I caught my first whale. I caught the Big Fish. The unexpected gigantic thing that even though all my wishes and hopes and excitement had been wrapped up inside of for so so long...I never really truly thought I'd catch. And so I sat there and remembered the very manageable size of the typical crappie specimen and how tasty they always are in that sauce and I wondered to myself...How the heck I'd ever reel this thing in and if I managed to do so, if I'd even like the taste? Luckily dad was there to throw me a pool net and talk me through the fiercest fish fight of my life.
So if I ever manage to get this thing in the boat, this blog of mine is Bronx bound.