- Outdoor columnist Ben Smith says spending time with a friend, even when the fish aren’t biting, is more than enough.
As we get older we tend to lose touch with the people that we grew up with, especially if we move away from the town we grew up in. This is at least true for me and the overall majority of people I hang out with now. I can count on one hand how many people I went to high school with that I still talk to on a regular basis. And it’s not because those people aren’t special to me. My high school friends will always have a special place in my heart, but after over twenty years of going our separate directions it’s hard to stay in touch with all of them.
Then there are those special few that you keep in touch with long after high school is over. These relationships are most likely going to last you until the day you die. You’ll go through different seasons of life together, often seeking advice from one another on experiences you encounter along the way. Your children will grow up together. You’ll experience the loss of friends and family members together. Your bond will be unbreakable. I cannot express how grateful I am to have a friend like this. A friend that knows me and knows where I came from, and is still a friend. Before I introduce you, let me clarify that I’ve got a few close friends that I know would give me the shirt off of their back if I needed it. I’ve written about a couple of them through the years, but this column is long overdue.
I don’t remember the exact day that Ben and I met, but I remember him being able to absolutely fly during elementary school. And yes, his name is Ben too, so this article may end up being difficult to follow! My earliest memories of Ben are of him being this short, skinny kid with glasses dusting everyone on the playground in a pair of Umbro shorts. I wasn’t much of a soccer guy, so I didn’t know what the heck Umbro was. Does it even still exist? I digress. Growing up, there wasn’t anything that Ben wasn’t good at. Baseball, soccer, football, the drums…the dude could do it all.
As we got older and went to high school, Ben was a star player on the soccer team at Laurel High and was the kicker/punter for the football team. He was also on the baseball team, but it was evident that he was going to play college football (he later kicked at Liberty University). Not only was he athletic, but he was also probably the nicest guy in school. Never boastful, never hateful, he was someone to look up to…and I did. Ben was a year ahead of me in school, so he got his driver license long before I did. Oftentimes he’d pick me up in the morning on the way to school and I credit my ability to drive a standard transmission to watching him do it on those morning rides. Looking back now, those were some of the best times I had in high school. I still remember the bumper sticker he had on that little car. It read, “Don’t let the car fool you, my treasure is in Heaven”, which was hilarious on that old Mazda, but also an accurate description of his faith.
After high school, we both went our separate ways. Ben went to Liberty to play football, and I went to Carey to play baseball. Every now and then we’d cross paths and catch up, but not much more than hello. Then one Sunday morning everything changed. I was sitting about five rows deep from the pulpit when our pastor marched a familiar couple on stage. He introduced Ben, and his wife Jaimie, to the church as part of the staff. I couldn’t believe it. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest! You see, of all of my friends growing up, there were only a couple that I can look back on and know that they truly cared about my salvation. Ben is one of those couple of friends. He used to pinch me under my arm whenever I’d cuss in an effort to get me to behave. It’s a wonder that I don’t still have bruises.
Fast forward to today. Ben and Jamie are still serving at our church, and Ben is still someone that I look up to. His personality is infectious and I’m a better person when I’ve been around him. How many of your friends can you say the same about? And his wife, Jaime, compliments him so well. I remember her going to eat with us on Friday mornings at Waffle House when they were dating in high school. She went to West Jones, but we allowed her to tag along anyway despite our hatred for her school (which we still have). Now, we have children around the same ages as we go through this season of life. We’ve all lost parents, or in-laws, and shared in our grief, and we’ve celebrated life achievements together.
Today I stared across the lake at the sunset from my kayak. It was picture perfect, so I pulled my phone out to capture the skyline. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ben doing the same thing. Our recent fishing trips together have made me feel closer to home than I have in a long time. As anyone that reads this column already knows, I love to catch fish. But if I’m being honest, I could sit on that lake with Ben all day without catching a thing and be content. Just being in the presence of an old friend is more than enough for me. If you’ve read the article to this point, I want to encourage you to reach out to an old friend that you haven’t talked to in a while. You may never know how much it will mean to them. And if you want to go the second mile…take ‘em fishing!
Ben Smith
