Funeral for a Friend...

Haley held her first pet funeral Thursday. She purchased a few new fish friends to share the tank with Goldie, her Fall Carnival goldfish.  

She was lucky enough to win Goldie a little over two years ago. This goldfish has grown from a small feeder fish to a massive four inches long!! So out of the blue she decided Goldie needed company.  My sister took her to the pet store, Haley picked three different "tank buddies" for Goldie. She was so excited she couldn't wait to put them in the tank. My sister and I kept a close watch on them, we weren't sure if Goldie would decide to have a Sushi lunch, or enjoy the company of new friends. All seemed good until about two days in, this one little fish started to keep to itself, it wasn't really eating either.  We decided the little thing needed to be transferred to FICU (fish intensive care unit). She was rushed to FICU and kept under careful observation for another 24 hours. Sadly the little thing didn't make it.  She join our Lord in Heaven while Haley was at school. 

She knew there was a chance the little fish wasn't going to pull through. She had already started making funeral plans just in case.  Well needless to say it was pouring buckets the day of the service! We decided to postpone things until the next day.  It was cold and overcast, kind of like those funeral scenes you see in the movies.  She picked a spot under the bird bath in the round flower bed for the fishes final resting place. We donned our garden gloves and moved the patio block the bird bath rests on. Haley lovingly dug the grave, she wanted it to be "just right", she carefully placed the fish wrapped in it's paper towel shroud into the hole.  "Okay now bow your head" she said. She spoke from her heart and asked God to keep her fish safe, and thanked him for letting her have such a nice fish.  She also asked that he keep her other fish safe! We made the sign of the cross, and replaced the patio block.

Before you know it she was looking to dig the poor thing up to see if it had started to turn back into "natural resources" yet. I did everything I could not to laugh!  The poor thing was only in the ground five minutes. We had to explain the process doesn't happen that fast. I think she was a bit disappointed.

Rest in peace little fish, rest in peace!