"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"

That title, originating with the Peanuts comic strip, really hits the nail on the head for me when it comes to describing how I feel about my friend (pictured here), Dewey Mullins. In the last eight years since he and I lost our parents, we've bonded in a way that I have really enjoyed. Those discussions we've had in the marina store have been priceless.

I only can hope the poem that follows will, in some small way, repay Dewey and perhaps help him recover from the health issues he is having to deal with at the moment. Here's hoping you get well soon, my friend. Now the poem I promised:

I still can remember the first time I met ol' Dewey,

He was running a tourney and, as usual, wouldn't stand for any hooey.

From his boat, he barked the rules and regs loud enough for all to hear,

There wouldn't be any shenanigans in this event--that much was abundantly clear.

 

Short fish, dead fish--everyone understood the score,

It was gonna cost you at least a little bit and maybe a whole lot more.

Now open those livewells and let me have a check,

Then we'll get this show on the road in just another sec.

 

This scene has played out many, many times o'er all the years,

As Dewey gained the reputation of a sportsman everyone reveres.

Navyman, boat rigger, gunsmith, fisherman, hunter, he be,

Husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather--on these points, we all agree.

 

For these past several years, manager of West Neck Marina has been Dewey's life,

A task that, for the most part, he performs with little or no strife.

About the only thing I've ever witnessed that really gets him charged up and going,

Is someone who drives off the end of the ramp after his warning and then needs towing.

 

Reared back in his big, brown, leather, executive chair,

Dewey monitors all those fishermen's stories that often fill the air.

And when he's not listening to what others have to say,

He's telling the tale about how his own big one once got away.

 

That's not all, though, that takes place in the marina store,

Maybe you want a new lure to replace one you don't have anymore.

Dewey's the man who easily can make it happen,

He's a wizard with wire and always guarantees satisfaction.

 

Or maybe you have leanings a lot like mine,

And want to pick Dewey's brain about fishing a particular piece of shoreline.

Whatever your question, he always has a reply,

One that makes sense--on that you can rely.

 

Dewey's a friend and mentor, all wrapped into one good-hearted, whiskered guy,

Someone--trust me--who's never afraid to look you squarely in the eye.

And although he has many a problem of his own, with which he must deal,

You'd never know it from his manner, because it's always like steel.

 

He'll do anything to help you, no matter what your plight;

Dewey's rescued me more than once when I needed help and was uptight.

A native of West Virginia, he's a man who typifies "what you see is what you get"--

No artificial airs--and for that, he's earned my utmost respect.