Everyone has their favorite or most vivid childhood memories. There are some that always seem to come up at family events, gatherings and in conversations. Some may be embarrassing or foggy, but others are remembered as if they happened yesterday.

For me, this vivid childhood memory is when I caught a fish at the pond behind my grandmother’s house. This may not seem like an interesting or special story, and in reality it isn’t. A lot of people have childhood memories of catching their first fish. However, the thing I remember most about this time was me thinking I was the coolest person in the world for catching this fish. It wasn’t just any fish. It was a three-pound bass. I can’t even explain how many times those words came out of my mouth after it happened. I told EVERYONE. At church the next day, I went up to as many people as possible and said: “I caught a three-pound bass!”

Another funny detail about the story is that I didn’t actually catch the fish by myself. I was 10 years old, so I wasn’t very strong at all. When I had the fish on the line, I couldn’t pull it in. My older brother and two other friends grabbed on to me and formed a train behind me to pull the fish in. This is the image of catching the three-pound bass that I don’t think I will ever forget. In that moment, catching that fish was the most important thing to me. I took as many pictures as possible with it and showed everyone I knew.

It’s funny to look back on stories like these and to remember the exact feeling you felt. At that point in my life, that fish was so important. Being that young, I didn’t have much to worry about or stress over. It is important to think about memories like this and remember the smallest and simplest events that made us happy at such a young age.