Charles Francis Adams Sr. (1807-1886) was an important man. He was a politician like his father, John Quincy Adams, and his grandfather, John Adams. He served in the Massachusetts legislature, then, in the U.S. Congress, and finally as the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain during the U.S. Civil War.
Henry Brooks Adams (1838-1918) was the fourth of seven children born to Charles Francis and Abigail Brooks. As a young man Henry Brooks would serve as secretary to his father, while his father was a congressman and ambassador. Later, Henry Brooks would become a historian and writer.
Our story is about a father and son fishing trip which occurred when Henry Brooks was eight years old. Charles Francis wrote in his diary, “went fishing with my son, a day wasted.” The reason for this evaluation was not stated. Maybe, it means that they caught no fish. Maybe, it means that it was a day of leisure and not work. The son entered this into his diary, “Went fishing with my father today, the most glorious day of my life.” What a different perspective.
The Wheeling Intelligencer contained an article on June 15, 2014 which retold this story. The article was titled: A Day Spent With Your Child Is Far From A Wasted Day.” This is so true.
Our children need us. They need our time. Consider – “These words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and talk of them when you sit in your house, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). “Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). They need our hearts. John the baptizer was to turn “the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6 cf. Luke 1:17).
Edgar Guest penned a long poem titled, “A Boy and His Dad.” Especially consider the last stanza.
A Boy and His Dad
by Edgar Guest 1881 –1959
A boy and his dad on a fishing-trip—
There is a glorious fellowship!
Father and son and the open sky
And the white clouds lazily drifting by,
And the laughing stream as it runs along
With the clicking reel like a martial song,
And the father teaching the youngster gay
How to land a fish in the sportsman’s way.
I fancy I hear them talking there
In an open boat, and the speech is fair.
And the boy is learning the ways of men
From the finest man in his youthful ken.
Kings, to the youngster, cannot compare
With the gentle father who’s with him there.
And the greatest mind of the human race
Not for one minute could take his place.
Which is happier, man or boy?
The soul of the father is steeped in joy,
For he’s finding out, to his heart’s delight,
That his son is fit for the future fight.
He is learning the glorious depths of him,
And the thoughts he thinks and his every whim;
And he shall discover, when night comes on,
How close he has grown to his little son.
A boy and his dad on a fishing-trip—
Builders of life’s companionship!
Oh, I envy them, as I see them there
Under the sky in the open air,
For out of the old, old long-ago
Come the summer days that I used to know,
When I learned life’s truths from my father’s lips
As I shared the joy of his fishing-trips.
Bryan Hodge 
An Awesome Message 🙏. Thank You 🙏