We Hold a Funeral

Sadly, today brought about the death of our piscine pal Pirate.  Brandt received Pirate and five other fish on his golden birthday nearly three years ago.  The other five fish died within just a day or two of moving in, but Pirate has held on for a long time, getting fatter and fatter seemingly each passing day.  At the time of his passing, he was the largest pet goldfish I've ever seen.  For the past several days he has not been doing well, hovering in plastic plant at the bottom of the tank.  Thing about fish, you can't do much for them.  I changed his water a couple of days ago, so it wasn't a question of the water being dirty, and we continued to offer him foodstuffs, but alas, nothing seemed to make a difference.  When we woke this morning, he was no longer breathing.

This evening, after dinner, we held a short service for Pirate.  Kent didn't feel like we should flush him to Jesus, so we had a funeral.  Kent found a box big enough to hold him and dug a hole in the front yard.  The children each decorated a stone to mark his final resting place, and we all gathered to say a few nice things about him, "He was the fattest pet goldfish we've ever seen," "He was a good eater," and "He had a good life."  There isn't a lot you can say about a fish.  Afterwards, we put him in the hole and Kent buried him, then Kent and I sang "Now the Day is Over," a hymn we used to sing to fish we had in Albany.  The children placed the stones and that was that.  I cleaned out the tank which I have put in the basement, and our pet ownership days have come to an end.

I hope the kids don't start asking for a dog next.

 

Digging the hole and placing the body.

 

The headstone markers.

Blythe's on the left, Brandt's on the right.

R.I.P. Pirate