AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
We all have essential items that we tote around. They tend to be small - cellphones, wallets, keys - but they can also be large.
DOMINIC LUCERO: I take a fishing pole everywhere I go, every place I visit.
RASCOE: Dominic Lucero lives in Lakewood, Colorado. Since he was a boy, fishing poles have been sort of an extra limb.
LUCERO: The first fishing pole that I remember was a blue-and-white Donald Duck child's fishing pole. Some of my first and greatest memories are with that fishing pole. Whoever gave it to me, it was a really great gift.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: NPR's series Throw It Back explores how the objects we love as kids shape our lives as adults and how we see the world. It continues with the story of Dominic Lucero and fishing poles.
LUCERO: The first time that I used that fishing pole was up at a lake in Yampa, Colorado. I remember it was a summer afternoon with my father and uncles and cousins and family members. And I remember sitting next to my uncle, and all of a sudden, my pole starts to bend.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
LUCERO: And it's starting to take off because it's such a tiny, tiny pole. I remember my uncle grabbing it before it went in the water and handing it to me. And lo and behold, after it seemed like 20, 30 minutes of reeling in this fish, it was the largest fish caught of the day. They were just so excited. They were like, I can't believe, Dominic, this little 4-, 5-, 6-year-old caught this amazing, huge fish on this little teeny tiny cartoon pole.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
LUCERO: It's what began within me that pathway of fishing and finding that same joy and excitement and that shared joy with others.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
LUCERO: You know, being born and raised in Denver in the '80s and '90s, we had this culture that was growing of just gang violence. At those times, you would hear more glass break and sirens and ambulances, screams and tires streaking more than you would hear birds chirping. I, myself, was impacted by youth violence. I was stabbed at 12 years old. My grandparents - they were home at the time. And when I walked into the door, you know, it was that traumatic experience, like, triggered something within my grandfather that I'd never seen within his face, the feeling of desperateness - right? - and how do I help my grandchild?
He began taking me fishing, like, once a week after that experience that I had. As soon as - took me a couple of months to recover and get back healthy, and the fishing became my medicine. What it did for my mind, body and spirit was way more powerful and way more impactful than any type of pill or medicine that you can find in a store.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
LUCERO: Every cast that I cast in the water, I not only saw myself in this reflective water, but I saw the ancestors before me who brought out peace and comfort that those mirrors in our homes didn't.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
LUCERO: My grandfather, Manuel Pacaso (ph) - I thought he was just trying to take me out of my environment, give this young boy something different to view. But as time progressed and I grew older, I realized that what he was doing was giving me this opportunity for mental clarity and peace. And it really hit in my late 20s. Like, look what fishing and this experience and this medicine passed down to me, look what it has done positively for my life. Now, what could I do? Teach somebody, teach somebody else.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
LUCERO: I started a nonprofit organization so that way, I can pass on this medicine. I try to teach youth families and communities that, yes, this is a recreational experience, but it's a healing experience. And I kept that tradition alive of that little Donald Duck pole. And for my sons, it was a very similar pole of the characters that they loved at the time. Now my daughters get to rock the Minnie Mouse pole, and so they will pass down that tradition to their little ones when they are lucky enough to have their family as well.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: That's Dominic Lucero in Lakewood, Colorado, for NPR's series Throw It Back.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
