If I'd taken a picture of Racer, Elijah's red glow fish he'd gotten for his 7th birthday, I'd post it here. But, I never thought that picture would be necessary. Of course now, that the fish has breathed his last, I wish I had. It is as of right now, sitting in kleenex inside a soap box. Elijah wrote on it: "Raser" "He is Dead". I think he's been to a lot of Lutheran church services - "He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!"
It was a sad moment or two or three. Elijah cried, his little sister who can't stand to see anyone upset, cried. He thought it was all his fault because he said he didn't always remember to feed him. He broke into nostalgia about how he loved to sit and watch the fish (it lit up in a blue light) and his friend, the yellow glow fish named "Chaser" swim around. It was terribly upsetting for him but as soon as he took a breath, he asked if we could go to Petsmart today to get a new one. So much for cherishing the life.
I think what impacted this little moment with my son, was just a few minutes before I got the shout out that the fish wasn't moving, we finished Charlotte's Web during out nighttime reading. I broke up when Charlotte died. If you haven't read it lately, see if you can get through this line: "Nobody, of the hundreds of people that had visited the Fair, knew that a grey spider had played the most important part of all. No one was with her when she died." Ugh - right to the heart. And Elijah kept asking, "are you crying, mom? Are you crying?" So, death was on his mind and he was given a great example as how to react to one.
Charlotte's Web is such a great story - and I'm so glad I have kids that give me an excuse to reread some great old novels that I haven't read in years, even if I do end up sucking down tears at the loss of a spider, or a fish.
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