Joe informed me this morning that tragedy had hit the Hoffman household overnight. Our pet fish Elmo, had passed on to clearer waters. We had read that the life expectancy of a beta is 6 months, so we were happy to have Elmo with us for 18 months of fishy fun. We'll always remember moving him all the way from Oregon to Texas in a Dutch Bros smoothie cup in the front cup holder of the Honda Odyssey. The boys were devastated at the news; Grant bawled for no less than 2 hours. We decided to give him a sunset funeral at one of the ponds in the neighborhood. It was actually Luke's idea and he was very poised throughout the ceremony, even presiding over Elmo's farewell prayer. He was a good fish and will be missed by me, Joe, the boys, and all the cats.
2 comments:
It is hard to read the picture Luke drew but if you look carefully you can see it is quite a touching drawing. Both Luke and Grant were very upset at the new of Elmo's passing and spontaneously decided to draw a picture to express their sadness. Grant also drew a very nice picture of Elmo. I was not sure what to do with Elmo but I knew that the boys would want to know how we disposed of his earthly remains. It was Luke who had the idea to release Elmo the the big pond near our house. So we packed Elmo up in a ziplock tupperware type container and took a walk to the pond. We were afraid that Grant would not even be able to ride his bike as he cried the whole way there. It was a beautiful evening by the time we got to the pond, there was a red sunset on the horizon. We walked to the far side of the pond away from the street and traffic & the boys parked their bikes near the pond under a young tree we named the "Elmo Tree". I pulled Elmo out from under the double stroller and the boys looked very carefully one more time just to make sure that there had not been a mistake and maybe Elmo had just been sleeping. We walked to the pond's edge where Luke said a prayer for Elmo. Then Grant, Luke and I all held the container and gently let Elmo slip in to the pond and out of our lives forever. Now whenever we go for a walk we will pass by the pond and remember Elmo the fish. The whole ceremony really helped the boys deal with the loss. I am not looking forward to the day when we find that one of our cats moves on...ugh! Daddy.
Dear Luke, Grant, Sammy, Karsten and parents:
We are so very sorry to hear of Elmo's passing. Luke, that was a very nice picture you drew - you must all have been very sad. What a perfect place to send Elmo on to 'deeper waters'. I didn't know Elmo well, but he seemed like a very special fish. When we come and see you at Christmas time, I hope you will take Grampa Joe and me to where he was set free. Love, Grammy Pat.
Post a Comment