Today was a tough day. But also a good day in that as a family we were able to fulfill Ethan’s final wishes. Near the end Ethan and I discussed what happens “after”. In order to make things bearable we both put forward what we would want. Perhaps not surprisingly, independently, we choose exactly the same final wishes: to have our ashes spread in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore off Marco Island.  We had many great days together laughing and fishing as a family, during the years my boys became men. Ethan however, added a wrinkle to his request. First we had to catch a grouper to ensure we were at a grouper hole (our prime fishing target). Given our abilities I teased him that he was setting a high bar as these can be elusive fish to catch but of course we promised to do as he asked. And so we (Colin, Spencer, Muriel and myself) came to Marco Island this weekend, when the waters are warm in search of a grouper and the fulfilment of a promise so we could say our final good bye to such an amazing young man. The day however did not go as planned. Hour after hour yielded vast quantities of fish but not one grouper. It seemed we had caught just about every fish in the gulf and we were starting to get a little discouraged. At the very the end of the day we tried our last “spot”. Almost immediately Colin’s line was hammered and as the grouper broke the water surface Spencer’s line snapped down and he too had a grouper. After fulfilling Ethan’s wish and releasing both fish we read the service our minister Ian prepared for us which was very thoughtful and I know Ethan appreciated it very much. We said good bye. Colin marked the GPS coordinates so we will always know where we were as it is my wish and final promise to Ethan that while he goes first he does not go alone as my will is to be amended to reflect these coordinates and the requirement that we be brought together again when my time comes.