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Some of you on the board may remember my post a while back about my grandfather. Well it is with a broken heart that I have to tell you all he passed away last night. At least he went peacefully with my mother at his side. For those of you that have or have had loved ones with this terrible disease, my heart goes out to you. I would ask you to pray for my grandmother and my mother but I don't have much faith in God at this moment. I wish you could have all met him for he was one of a kind. I am still in shock as I type this so I apologize if it seems like a rant. I may not be around as much untill I get my head on straight but untill then good luck to all of you. I will still be fishing for my team as I know that is what he would have wanted. I have made many many friends here and I guess right now I just needed to try and get things off my chest. Anyway to those who didn't see it or weren't around at the time here is my original post:
Making Memories
Let me start this post by giving you a little history. My Grandfather who is in his mid 70s has lived his whole life taking care of other people when they needed anything. I couldn't begin to tell you the thousands of times he has given money, food, or a place to live to one of my family members including myself. He has worked every moment of his life up until a few months ago, a lot of times for less than minimum wage. I have seen him give to others when he didn't have it for himself many many times. My Grandmother has been bed ridden for about ten years now and he also takes care of her and all her needs. Anyway to make a much longer story short he was diagnosed with kidney cancer early this year. By the time they operated to remove a kidney it had spread to his lungs and is inoperable and untreatable with current knowledge. In a couple weeks he goes to Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa as a last form of hope. My Grandfather has always loved fishing and the outdoors even though he rarely had time or funds to go.He ran a bait shop out of his home for many many years when I was a kid to help make ends meet. It was called Rays Bait and was open 24 hours a day 7 days a week as I recall. Myself and my brothers used to go nightcrawler hunting and he would pay us for the worms to give us spending money. Sorry for the long post, anyway I took him fishing yesterday evening and we had a great trip. He caught his biggest cat ever along with some other nice ones. At one time we had on a double with one very large fish, no light, and I had already put the net away it was to say the least very exciting for the both of us! I did manage to get a few quick pictures to preserve one of the greatest moments in my life. I hope you all enjoy them and please never take anyone or anything in your life for granted. You never know what tomorrow holds.
In Loving Memory of Ray Hocq
May 15th, 1930 - September 22, 2005
