A bit sad
I’m sad to have to convey that last night, just past 11:00, my little fish Frank passed along.
It seems he succumbed to an internal bacterial infection, which was hard to diagnose, and the antibiotics we put in the water weren’t enough or in time.
He was only my little fish for eight days, but he was a good fish and a member of our family.
Last evening at the grocery store, I ran into a longtime friend and when I confessed I was sad because I thought my fish would die, she said, “ah, no matter. Flush him and get another one.”
I appreciate that many folks would feel that way. It’s just a small thing, a $5.00 fish from the pet store.
And that’s fine. We all go about life our own way.
For me, I’m not ashamed to actually feel very sad and even cry a little for my fish, who had to struggle so much for life so much there at the end.
I knew when I bought him that he might not be 100% healthy. The Good Man and I agreed to foster him at home so he would either recover, or if he succumbed, he would do so in a big tank with humans around to protect him.
And so we did.
I pimped out a nice matchbox coffin for my friend and gave him a proper goodbye in the side garden of our house.
He was just a fish, but he was my fish, and he was well loved.
By the by, Margaret, the female betta who came home with us the same day as Frank is doing fine. She’s happy and does a little fish dance when we walk up to the tank. I never before thought I could find a fish cute, but I have to say, she’s an adorable little fish.
Comments
Lucky
Poor Frank. At least he had a good home there at the end.
People who don't feel that way about their pets don't get it. I would literally jump in front of a bus for my dog. Back in grad school, a philosophy professor asked this rhetorical question: If your dog and a person (a stranger) were both drowning and you could only save one of them, which would you save?
You're supposed to say the person. My answer was, if the stranger is an adult, I'm saving my dog. I adopted him, I promised to look out for him. I can see picking a kid over him, but that adult stranger got into the water of his own volition, and if the dog is in the water, it's because I didn't do my job.
The professor was shocked, but I'm sticking to it. And I'm very sorry about Frank.
Karen Fayeth
Lucky – thank you for your comment and thank you for understanding.
I never really had that many pets growing up so I didn't have the usual string of pet burials that many kids have. This is all new to me.
Once Frank's suffering was over, it was easier. It's very hard to watch any being struggle at life.
Anyhow, just…thanks.