Momma fish has passed on

Victoria's beloved beta fish, Momma Fish, has gone to live in fishy heaven. She loved her fish and was so good at remembering to feed it. We have had that fish for almost 2 years now. I am actually surprised this fish lasted as long as it did. One vacation we took the neighbors didn't realize we had two fish and forgot to feed Momma Fish for the entire 2 weeks we were gone. The fish was fine, just a little hungry. :) A couple months ago he tried to commit suicide. Nathaniel was going to clean his bowl so he moved him into a smaller bowl until he could get it done. He set that bowl up on the counter behind the sink. We started getting kids ready for bed and I had to walk through the kitchen to get something and out of the corner of my eye I saw something flutter on the ground. I figured it was a piece of paper so I kept walking. I then thought I better look closer and to my surprise it was the fish. He fell 4 ft onto the tile! I picked him up and put him back in the bowl and figured we would be flushing him. No way could a fish survive that. We watched him that night and he just stayed on the bottom of the bowl but you could see him breathing. In the morning it wasn't any different. Nathaniel wanted to flush him and put him out of his misery. I figured if he was still breathing we could wait. Part of that was I didn't want to tell Victoria. We talked about getting a body double but decided not to. By that afternoon it was moving little bits which we took as a good sign even though he was upside down. He even ate a little bit. Within a couple of days he was swimming although he wasn't using one side of his body. A few days later he was acting completely normal although he wanted to eat all the time. It was at that point that I told Victoria what happened minus the almost dying part. She loves to tell the story of how mommy found her fish on the ground.

Well we went to Ft Worth to visit family and in our rush we forgot to tell the neighbors to feed the fish. We were more concerned about making sure the dog would be take care of. By the time we got home Momma fish had kicked the bucket. Nathaniel told the girls that the fish was sleeping. I wasn't there so I couldn't say anything to the contrary. We flushed the fish that night and in the morning I knew I had to break the news to Victoria. I was very worried to tell her. I told her that Momma fish had to go live in fishy heaven with Tuba Luba. Tuba Luba was Madeleine's fish that died about a year ago. She asked what happened and I told her he got sick. Being the bright child she is, Madeleine chimed in that she knew the fish wasn't sleeping. They asked a few more questions and then Victoria was done with the discussion and the two ran off to play. I was very relieved that it went well.

Now the girls have been asking for another fish. I don't think I want one right now. We have gone through enough fish over the last couple of years to last us quite awhile. I think one pet is enough right now.