Farewell Caleb

Caleb has passed away.

Not my Caleb!  But, his beloved pet fish, Caleb.

(Yes, my son is super creative when it comes to naming his fish.  The other fish is called Nemo.)

I went to feed them this morning...

(By the way, my agreement to getting fish was that I was not the one to take care of them.  Yet, who feeds them?  Who cleans up their feces?  Yep.)

So, I was feeding them, and like always, I looked to make sure all four were accounted for.  After looking in vain for Caleb, with Abby by my side, I suddenly found him.  Lying on the bottom of the tank, not moving, eyes wide open.

Abby noticed him, too, and while I was thinking through when I would tell Caleb (definitely not then, as he was about to leave for school), Abby yelled, "Caleb, come see this!"

Thanks Abigail.  That was super helpful.

As I hid my tears (for my Caleb, not the fish Caleb), I explained what happened, but ended on the cheerful note of how we will get another one to replace him.  Caleb was quiet for a moment, and then started talking about all of the other fish he was going to buy.

Well, the death of our first pet went better than expected.

I continued to get them ready for school.  At one point, I looked over and saw one of Abby's fish circling Caleb.  She sniffed at him, then nipped at him, causing his stiff body to flip over in the water.  Seeing enough, I turned off the tank lamp and walked away.  No need for the kids to witness that part of nature.

I am not a huge fish fan, but in this case, I am thankful we are not saying good-bye to a dog or cat.  I know that will happen someday, but for now, I am okay with losing a pet we can flush.