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Friday, March 22, 2013

Learning to Say Goodbye

I heard Ryan crying softly through the door.  It broke my heart to hear the sharp staccatoed intakes of breath as he attempted to calm himself.  As a mother I would've done anything to take that hurt away.  But this was a life lesson we couldn't avoid.  He'd never dealt with death before, and he shouldn't have - he was only 6 at the time.  I turned and tiptoed away from the door.  I thought I would give him some time to collect his thoughts and he could come to me with any questions when he was ready.

With red puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks, he emerged from his room and told me he was ready to get dressed. We retrieved his navy blue button down from the closet and clipped on his yellow tie; I thought the yellow might lighten the mood a little.  It didn't seem to.

With tissues in one hand and his tiny hand in the other, it was time to make our way to Ryan's first funeral.

The venue was small and musty, but that was to be expected.  We all crowded in to pay our final respects and waited for the funeral to begin.  Selfishly, I hoped it would be a short service.  Don't get me wrong, I like a good funeral as much as the next guy, but let's get to the part where we can memorialize with a drink in our hand, shall we?

After a moment or two and some shuffling about, the speaker was ready to offer words of farewell. 

Ryan - "You were the best fish and the best swimmer in the whole wide world and I'm going to miss you.  I love you, Ryan Jr."

**flush**

Ryan Jr.

Ryan Jr. - beloved fish and gilled friend. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation to the "Help with Creative Pet Names" foundation.

 ******

Wanna join in the Theme Thursday mayhem or read some more posts on funerals?  Head on over to Something Clever 2.0 and check it out.  Just click the link below. 


11 comments:

  1. That's so sad! He's a beautiful fish. And that's a remarkable eulogy for a 6 yo.

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    1. He was so devastated! I thought his eulogy was pretty great, too. Thank you.

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  2. Poor 'lil guy - the fish, not Ryan. You couldn't even dig a hole in the yard for the damn thing? Gah! Just teasing...it's the midwesterner in me, I can't help it.

    I love that you took a picture of Ryan Jr., so that he can truly be remembered. Amen.

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    1. We asked if he wanted to bury him or flush him and he thought it would be better to be in water. The second we flushed him he thought it was pretty cool and immediately wanted a new fish. I feared he'd want to flush the new fish, but we kept the new one for 2 years....and then flushed him.

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  3. Loosing pets is hard, we recently had our kitty pass. Luckily Animal was to young to notice.

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    1. Oh, a kitty would be exponentially tougher to lose. I'm so sorry. My pets are my family.

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  4. We have a hamster in the freezer, awaiting interment. The first few we buried rather promptly, amid much pomp and circumstance and reading of eulogies. This one, eh. He's been in the freezer for several years now, and I'd really like to get him out of there....

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    1. You've had him in the freezer for several years!? What are you waiting for exactly? Is it wrong that this made me laugh? Bury the little fella and let him rest in peace (and warmth)

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    2. Welllll, we like to bury our pets at my folks' lake house, because the ground is sandy and easier to dig (unlike our Ozark rock and clay). And we keep forgetting to take him with us. Did I mention he only has three legs and one ear? Is it any wonder he didn't live a long life?

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  5. Great idea for this weeks blog! I didn't even think about pets! I just flushed my son's fish. You guys did WAY better!

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    1. We only did because our son was so distraught. If he hadn't cared so much, we would've flushed Ryan Jr. in a hot minute :) thanks for stopping by!

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