I have a young lady neighbor that's 32 years old and mentally challenged. Her mother and father live just up the street. This young lady can live by herself but doesn't cook and certainly cannot handle money. She has a daycare worker come in each day to assist her. Nice as pie most of the time but she can have a streak of mischief too. Her parents own a summer place in Wisconsin and her dad enjoys bass fishing. One day he and I were shooting the bull and he happened to see the injection area on the work bench and some of the crappie baits I make. He enjoys panfishing too so I sent him home with a care package.
A while back the girl's mother was doing some yard work down here and I asked if the girl could come over and make some baits for her Father's Day present. Ma was pretty impressed with the idea and today the girl and her care worker came over. I got her all gowned up in my apron and fitted her with gloves and safety glasses and we made frogs and toads. Things we take for granted were simple amazement for her and watching her as plastic went thru the cooking stages and the glitter and hi lite went into the colors was pure pleasure. I helped her inject a few molds by taking up the plastic myself and holding the injector while she careful pushed down on the rod. I let the molds set for about 5 minutes between injecting and opening so I knew the plastic was set and not going to run. I'd "take a peek" to check for any soft or runny plastic, then let her open the mold. The look of wonder crossed her face as the mold halves parted and she'd break into ooooohs and aaaahs and smiles that just can't be described. When we made the frogs and toads with the black spots dotted in the mold before injecting she was totally smitten with these guys. I made two more for her to include in dad's goodies. When the injection stuff was wound up and everything cleaned and put away she about flipped when I handed her a card of eyes. I showed her with one eye how to apply them and where and she did her task better than I could have. The care and deliberate placement was just something else to watch. Unreal. I explained that the clear dip was fussy and that I had to do that and she stood there with intense eyes watching and when each frog came from the clear and went to the water bath she'd gasp....totally unreal how something so simple would excite her like that. When we had our clear dip stuff put away I said we had to take the frogs out in the sun so she could see how pretty they really were. I'd put them in a nice Plano box I picked up for the occasion with a package of Gami hooks. She opened the box in the sun and just gazed at those critters, never said a word, then closed the box and gave me a bear hug the likes of which I have never had before and said "Thank You, my Dad is going to love them". I told her they were indeed special because she helped make them. Boy that got a smile.
I'm going to get a cold beer and go sit in my recliner and re-live this last hour.....I just don't want it to go away or forget it.
