Our Tales From The Tank

  The search continues.. Sheri already knew we had just got a fish tank. We talked pretty often, and she had been following along with all of my excitement. So I got right to the point. I texted her the situation,  No time for “hi”,  No time for “hello” This was a time sensitive matter.  To be short but precise, She responded with a few questions, “Are those slots where the filter sucks up the water?” “Yeah!” I replied Sheri replied,  “Yeah, she’s definitely not in the filter!” I read it, then I took a second to think. “Yeah.. I’m not convinced”  “I’ll stick the phone in the filter and I will send you the video, you tell me if she’s in there! I can’t look!” Before i sent the video, she had sent another text, that read, “She wouldn’t have gotten sucked up through those!” “Yeah.. still not convinced!” I thought. I opened up the top of the filter,  Opened my camera,  Put the flash on, and took a video. Trying not to look, I sent the video! “Its too d...

  Before we move on to finding pink fish... If your reading this thinking,  “This woman can not be serious!” I assure you I was! And now being a little more of an educated fish keeper, I can now see Shane and Sheri were right, No way a fish was going to get sucked up through those tiny slots in the filter tube.  Here’s a bit of a vision of what the filter looks like, Water gets sucked up through those tiny slots and up into a pool like bucket hanging on the tank, filters through the filter sheet and then back into the tank through what looks like a waterfall. Also I will give you the video i sent sheri so you can see a bit better. I reread my message and honestly laughed at myself.  I am now thinking, “They totally thought I was nuts.” But as unbelievable as it sounds, it in fact did happen. video below

  The moment we were dreading I then went about my day again, I had things to do before I picked up Lily and Lucas. I did some laundry and crocheted, before I knew it, it was time to pick up the kids. They got in the car and I couldn’t wait because this was still weighing heavily on me. I whispered to Lily in the car, “I can’t find one of the pink fish.” Her eyes got wide  Her mouth dropped,  Nothing came out at first! She finally said “How?” I told her, “She has to be dead somewhere in the tank.” “NO!” she replied  I informed her  “When dad gets home we have to move the decorations to find her!” “Okay.. can I get Dunkin before we search?” Lily replied  This is such a Lily thing to say,  Looking back, I think she knew we were about to discover something none of us were ready to see, so comfort food beforehand made plenty of sense to her. If your thinking, “I hope she got her Dunkin!” She in fact did get Dunkin. Before long, Shane got home. We all went ...

  One More Swim  We are just sitting, holding each other tight. This is his first loss,  I needed to be gentle. My mind was racing, How do you explain to a little boy about death? It wasn’t about convincing him to let me flush the fish. It was about how to help him understand why we flush the fish. "How do you explain this to a kid?" I thought. Lucas was now calm enough that we could talk. I started telling him.  “When fish die they need help to swim again.” I asked him, “You want him to swim again, right?” “Yes,” he replied. “Okay. Well.. When you flush him the water goes down, it then helps him swim again.” “They go down, back into the pond where their other fish friends help him as well.” “He will be better again!” I was trying to make him feel better. But honestly...  I was making it up as I went. I saw his face change, he was thinking about what I had said. “But I will miss him” he replied. “I know you will, we all will.” “If we keep him in a bowl, he will ...

  Only seconds had passed. Shane had called Lucas over to comfort him, so I could scoop the fish up in the net and do what the fish owners do..  Flush them down the toilet. Lily was right next to me,  I picked the net back up out of the tank. “Those poor other fish in the tank,” I thought.  I can just imagine.. They must be thinking “Watch out! Giant net incoming!” Or.. “Watch out! The Giant’s back!” I scooped the fish up. Lily then yells, "Be careful with him!” I look at her and say “Relax, it's dead!” “You can still be gentle." she exclaimed  She then follows with a question. “What are you going to do with him?” “Umm.. flush it!” I didn't take into consideration that we never had to deal with a dead fish. We weren't prepared for this.  “Oh..." she responds with a soft saddened voice and her face expression lowered.  I looked at her with soft eyes and said,  “It's okay. That's where fish go!” I then proceeded up the stairs, When Lucas saw me star...