Deadliest Catch will never be the same.

The opening scene, season 7 of Deadliest Catch was an emotional one. As we watched our beloved Captain Phil Harris be laid to rest. His ashes placed in a crab pot, set down into the Bering Sea. Surrounded by his father, sons, friends, crabbing family. As viewers, This was our final goodbye. Even though many of us knew what was to be aired. It was another gut wrenching moment of reality, that Phil has left us, drifted onward to his next path.

From the beginning, this show or should I say Captain Phil, captured my attention, later my heart. Television shows are not usually my desired form of entertainment. Especially reality shows which are anything but. However Deadliest Catch was different.

We, Natives of the NW have a way about us. Free spirits, hard working yet laid back, the lovers/caretakers of nature. With the mountains above us, valleys below us, the vast ocean stretched before us. We take pride knowing that we live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The men of Deadliest Catch magnify this spirit tenfold. Bordering on insane to take on Mother Nature, the vast sea, the dangers they can bestow.

While their occupations drew me in, the personalities made me want to watch. Soon Captain Phil became my favorite. Here was a man that partied hard in his youth, worked even harder, was told that he would not amount to anything, he set out to prove them wrong. While he grew up in Ballard Washington, the ocean was his home.

Through the eyes of the camera. We came to realize that the one thing Phil loved more than the sea, were his boys Josh and Jake. When he candidly admitted his mistakes as a parent, I could relate. For I have made my share.
The love that he showed through his laughter, his teaching, even yelling to get through to them, made me feel he was a kindred spirit. I could hear so many of my own words, in the ones he spoke. Only wanting the best for them, he knew what it would take. Giving them every opportunity within his grasp, to make their own dreams become reality.

With a history of blood clots that hospitalized him during the prior crabbing season. He came back for the 2009/2010 season. Yet his health was still in question. Within his words, actions, there were subtle signs. Signs that he may not be around to teach his boys, all he wanted them to know. Say all what he wanted to say. Instead he focused on the most important message of all. They were loved and he was proud of the men they had become.

On January 29th 2010 while the Cornelia Marie crew off loaded their catch. Captain Harris suffered a massive stroke. While he gave a valiant fight. On February 9th, 2010, Phil lost the battle. Which was my son's 13th birthday. As I read the news on the Internet, I held in the tears. At one minute after midnight I allowed them to fall.

Last September I had the opportunity to meet Josh and Jake Harris at the Commercial Fisherman's Festival in Astoria, Oregon. Through the gentle reminders of well meaning fans, their heart aches, own personal issues. These two young men showed maturity beyond their years. For while they have become reality stars. No one can fake genuine kindness and gratitude. That is what they showed us on that day.

To grieve for a father, have your source of income taken from you, to battle addictions, face problems, Problems that no one should have to deal with that young, is hard enough. Yet, to do it while the world watches is beyond my comprehension.

During the time my own father worked in professional sports. I became the unfortunate witness to the ruin fame can do to a person. How public figures can be used, then thrown away by the establishment, the fans, the very people who put them on that pedestal.

My wish for Jake and Josh is this, That they put their time in the limelight into perspective, that they hang on to their true friends, follow their own dreams. May they ask for help when needed. Know that the true character of a person is not in the absence of making mistakes. It is in the ability to face a new day, fight the good fight. Stay true to themselves.

May they continue to lean on, believe in one another. For in the end what matters most is love, honor, family. May they forever look to their father as their role model, for he was the finest example of this.

What might have been their father's most important lesson of all, he saved for his last. What really matters in the end, is the journey. Who you chose to love along the way. Who chose to love you unconditionally. For that is the true measure of success.

Phil Harris, There are very few as blessed as you were. For in this life, you were loved by so many. May you have found peace on your new path in uncharted waters.

Thank you for the memories Captain. Your legacy lives on.