Monday, March 30, 2009

Rest In Peace Dorothy

The other morning I found Dorothy laying sideways in the fishbowl. Uh oh. Jay took care of the disposal part of things (while Bug was downstairs), and I decided to take care of breaking the news to Bug. We were outside eating lunch and it seemed the perfect opportunity to have a heart-to-heart. "Buggy? Honey? I want to tell you something." "OKAY!! Let's draw something funny with chalk! You be the mommy bear and I'll be the baby bear. OH! There's an ANT eating your banana peeeeeeel!" "Bug, I'm gonna tell you something kinda different so I really want you to listen." "Okay Mom. Tell me Mommy!" I decided not to beat around the bush. "Dorothy's dead honey. She died. She went to live with Jesus in heaven." "Ooooh." (pause, frown) "Why did she die?" "She might have gotten sick. Sometimes that happens." "I don't think so. I don't think she was sick. What about Nemo? Did he die?" "Nope, Nemo's fine." "Let's draw something funny with chalk!" Okay, I guess it wasn't going to be the life-altering, tear-filled conversation I had feared it would be... Hours later I heard her calling to me from upstairs in her room (where we keep her fishbowl): "Mooooooom! Mom! Mom? Can you turn the light on for me so I can watch Dorothy die?"

6 comments:

Allyson said...

Oh how sad! I'm sorry Dorothy. (Just as a correction to my mom's comment a while back, my fish was named 5 1/2.) I had some goldfish that died within days...Some just do I guess.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry about Dorothy. She seemed to take the news well though :)

Dana said...

:( So sad.

Meghan said...

I was actually going to ask you today how the fish were doing! But I guess this post answered my question.. :) Our fish just kinda stay in one spot in the bowl- a little disappointing. I wish they'd swim around so the kids had something to watch...

Dana said...

So, how's Nemo doing without Dorothy? And by the way, you've got me hooked on Pioneer Woman!!!

Mr. M said...

Having lost our share of pets, I have found that it gets much harder with more interactive pets.

We had a kitten that fell victim of a busy street and our children mourned for a couple months, especially our younger ones.

I think that when we lose that which we are able to interact with, love, hold it is a far greater loss.