Over the years, Aaron and Walker became friends. They liked and trusted each other, which is a big deal in a fairly small industry. Each knew the other never would do him wrong. And Walker always had such a great feeling anytime he knew Aaron would be helping at a work event. It gave him something extra to be excited about.
One afternoon, the two of them had gone to tour a soft-plastics factory for a work deal they were attending. As they walked through the warehouse, Aaron noticed a little girl...maybe 8 years old or so...tagging along with the tour. She looked totally bored.
With Aaron not having the longest attention span at times, he walked over to the little girl in the middle of the tour, lightly tapped her on top of her head, and said, "Tag! You're it!"
That little girl's eyes lit up as Aaron started running and zigzagging through the warehouse full of bass baits, giggling and looking back to her and screaming, "You can't catch me!"
The whole tour stopped. They were all tired after a long week on the water. They further were hungry, sunburned...and, yes, sore. But not a soul was mad. Not a soul was irritated. They instead all stopped and smiled, some with small tears puddling in their eyes, because they knew Aaron.
Said Walker, "We knew we were in the presence of a special, once-in-a-lifetime soul. Work didn't matter for those few minutes. In hindsight, it's almost as if we knew we'd miss this one day. It was as if we knew, if only for a few short moments, that we were going to remember that game of tag for the rest of our lives. As Aaron and that little girl chased each other through that warehouse, he made her feel special. He had that special ability to make people...anyone...matter when they needed it most.
"Aaron also made us feel special. We felt special because we were able to see one of the most naturally talented human beings act with such humility and grace. No matter who you were, you mattered.
"Intent...selflessness...pure joy...that was Aaron Martens."
When he passed away, Walker went into his shop and just stared at the wall and cried. "Maybe fishing isn't as important as we like to think," he mused. "Maybe it's just a vessel to love people. Maybe it's just a vessel to teach people. Maybe it's just a vessel to make the little guy feel important. Maybe it's just a way to make a lasting mark on this earth.
"To Aaron, fishing was all of those things," said Walker. "Fishing was more than just fishing.
"To li'l ol' me," thought Walker, "fishing has been a vessel to meet one of the most sincere humans to ever grace this earth.
"Thank you, Aaron. I'll miss you."
Walker's kind words about Aaron weren't lost on Kevin VanDam, who had some nice things to say himself. He characterized Aaron as "an amazing angler who did things his own way and was always incredibly detail-oriented. He was the greatest instinctual angler of my era...aka 'The Natural.'
"As I got to know Aaron more through his 22 years on tour," continued Kevin, "I saw just how special he was as a person. He was always positive, smiling, bubbly, and willing to offer help to anyone. He loved his family and always talked about them. He made me a better person, and I know a lot of others who would say the same. Everyone loved him. Every time we talked, we'd never finish without telling each other 'love you.'
"One thing that stood out during his fight with cancer, giving me great comfort," added Kevin, "was his unwavering faith. He knew God had a plan, and he never questioned that...he just kept fighting...always positive. Heaven received a special gift and an amazing person with my friend Aaron.
"Love you, bro... ."
No comments:
Post a Comment