Wednesday, June 04, 2014

One Fish, Two Fish, Dead Fish, Blue Fish

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I'm not a huge fan of the animal world, and so have been reluctant to allow those filled with dander and requiring much upkeep into our abode. So we've had an ant farm (which turned into more of an ant cemetery). A jelly fish (which pre-deceased the pet stage). And recently we got an aquarium, two neon fish (chosen by Nora) and a couple of dalmatian fish (chosen by Owen).

It was all quite a production. We decided we were going to go to the pet store over Memorial Day only to discover that the tank needed to set a week before we actually got fish. So the kids picked out all the accoutrements, scoped out which fish they wanted, and made a plan to return the following Sunday. Right after church we hurried over to the pet store to get the fish (Owen was particularly anxious to save the dalmatians from the "semi-aggressive" fish they were sharing a tank with), and left with four fish and an algae ball. We quickly set up the aquarium and acclimated our new additions (Sarah, Elizabeth, and the two unnamed dalmatians-- Owen couldn't decide), and headed out to meet Aunt Katherine, Uncle L, Mom Mom, Grandpa Don and Grandpa Fawcett for some outdoor adventures before Allen left for a conference in West Virginia.

Two days later, Owen's fish weren't looking so good. By Tuesday afternoon, Grandpa Fawcett regretfully informed me that they'd passed aways.

Not to get all Sophie's Choice, but if one of the kids' pets had to die, we were rooting for Nora's. Owen doesn't handle saying goodbye well to inanimate objects, so the passing of a living being seemed like it would be hard for him to take; whereas Nora coexisted quite happily with Lana the dead jellyfish for six months. But as life isn't a movie, we dealt the hand we were given.

I told Owen when I picked him up from aftercare what had happened and gave him the option of a burial at sea or land. He opted for land, asked me to dig the hole, and by the time Nora had gotten a lily for the grave from the dining room table, Owen had already plopped his pets into the grave and was asking to play Minecraft.

I guess people grieve in very different ways.

Anyway, we now have two fish; long may they reign.

(To see all our fish pics, click here)

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"No-name 1 and 2" (May 31, 2014 - June 2, 2014).


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