HOW THE SECOND BAR CAME TO BE!

On March 13, 2009, Joel "Breiner" Deonanan entered this world ready to go.  For his four years on earth, he lived life to the fullest.  He loved to play with his friends, fish and hunt.  On Friday, August 16, 2013 he was in an accident that I unfortunately saw happen along with my neighbor and her daughter.  Breiner went through many procedures that Joel, our neighbors, our friends and other doctors prayed would pull him through.  God had a different plan for him.  He left earth with Joel and I by his side telling him that we loved him so much.  As we walked out of Brenner's Hospital amazed at how much the doctors, nurses, our friends and family supported us.  I was numb for several weeks thinking that Breiner was at camp or preschool and that we would soon be back to get him.  It has not been but over the past few weeks where reality has hit and hit hard.  It's the small things that remind us of him.  A child's smile, shoes that one of my student's wears that he had the same pair, a picture, something in the grocery store, the list goes on.  Even though Joel and I know that he is in a wonderful place, we also want to hold him and cuddle with him.  We used to yearn for the days we could get a break and just sit in the quiet.  Now, we yearn for the days for our house to be loud, our days to be crazy busy and our chores to go unfinished.  As we planned Breiner's celebration of life, my dad wrote this letter to him and this is the beginning of how The Second Bar got started.

The Second Bar.......

Hey Breiner,
If I know you, you've already got a couple of lines in the water, so I won't keep you too long. Just got to thinking about last Thanksgiving when we went deer hunting. You could hear the dogs coming and knew the deer were just ahead of them. When they came out in the field, you were so excited. "Shoot, Paw Paw, shoot!" I explained to you that we were just after the boy deer. After awhile you understood and knew what we were looking for. No deer that day, but we still had a good time. Later that afternoon Santa made a surprise visit. You, Ella, Neil and Mack were so excited, but your real love was fishing. Our last trip to the beach was extra special with all the family being there. Some met you for the first time. You were catching them two at the time. Everbody up and down the shore was thinking, what is he doing that I'm not? When you reeled them in, you said, "I'll take them off." I asked you if you were saving them? You said, "No, throw them back." You showed me that you could have just as much fun catching and releasing as you could filling up a cooler. It has taken me 50 years to figure that out. I see now that maybe you were saving them for me later. We talked about all the fish being out on the second bar, but we couldn't get to them. Well, I know that's where you are now. Just remember when you see me standing on the shore trying to cast out to that second bar, send some in a little closer for me. I know when we meet again you will show me all the good spots. See you on the second bar buddy.
Love,
Paw Paw  
P.S. I'll bring more bait.