according to Abby anyway. Last week our fish gave up the ghost. Emily was given the fish as a birthday present when she was 5 years old. If you remember she just turned 10 so the fish lasted over 5 years. I wish I had access to the picture of her when she was five and we surprised her with the fish (it's currently packed up else where). She was so excited to finally have a pet and religiously fed it daily. We actually got her two fish for her birthday. She named them Balto and Jenna (from the animated movie, Balto). Jenna died the next day but Balto was the superstar fish. Over the years having a fish got less exciting to Em and eventually it seemed more like Abby's fish since she took over the feeding of it. In the last year or so the fish would be forgot and sometimes was fed maybe once during the week. But still it survived. We would even go on vacation and just leave it home and not worry about it. Before I went to bed one night last week I noticed that the fish was swimming sideways. Sure enough the next day it wasn't really doing much, but it was still alive. Abby was very upset and prayed for the fish. It perked up for a few days and I thought it was going to be fine. Then on Friday, Balto took a turn for the worse. While Abby was at school it died. When she got home I gently told her that Balto had died. My little tenderhearted Abby cried her eyes out. She asked me if she could hold him. I was a bit disgusted (secretively of course) but I let her and she cried some more. It was very sweet and I even got a bit teary eyed watching her mourn. She and Chris took the fish to our house the next day and had a Fishy Funeral. R.I.P Balto.
Abby and the late Balto (She wanted me to take a picture so she could remember him always). Can you take a wild guess what is first on her birthday list? In lou of flowers please send hand sanitizer.
8 comments:
Oh, that is so sad. I guess it is good for kids to learn how to love and lose in preparation for big losses someday. Bella still talks about how her first fish is in heaven with Great Grandpa. Are there fish in heaven?
PS...Glad you like the shirt! I'm wearing mine today, too!
Balto sounded like a good fish - farewell Buddy! :)
I seriously can't believe you had a goldfish live for 5 years. That's got to be some kind of record! Truly.
Abby is so sweet and tender, I think that's adorable she wanted to hold it (which would have totally grossed me out, too).
Good luck on the birthday shopping, hopefully Balto II will be just as viable.
Cute new background!
That is so sweet and so sad. We had some fish for a while, the kids kept overfeeding them over and over again. They survived, this is kind of gross, but eventually some of the fish turned into carnivores and they started eating each other. At that point mom had had enough and so it was time for the fishies to go.
Lukie had a fish and I had found what I thought was something for the fish tank and put it in an plugged it in---it was a heater and I overheated the fish and it died:( Luke has never let me forget it--he says I own him one...... We have Gordy J's Green Anoles(reptiles) that he said would die in a year---that was 6 years ago!! Reminds me-- I need to pick up crickets to fed them.... I figured this is my punishment for killing Lukie's fish......I think is was sweet that Abby cried--it shows her heart!!
That is so sweet of Abby!! Sometimes I wish I could go back to the time when all we had to worry about was our goldfish being able to RIP. However, I bet you're secretly glad that Balto is gone! :)
This post was sad and funny at the same time. Abby is such a sweetheart. She was so nice to Elizabeth while we there letting her help feed the fish. Poor Balto.
What a tender hearted sweetie. I hope her new fish will be every bit as wonderful as Balto.
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