Day 144 -- The Return of Goofy the Fish



Goofy the Fish was a good fish.  We purchased Goofy at Meijers on the 4th of July, 2009.  Breslin gave him his name (it was during his "gotta-watch-Mickey Mouse Clubhouse-at-all-hours-of-the-day" phase).  Goofy lasted almost two years before we had to say goodbye about 1 week ago.  He was just your average goldfish, nothing special.  I honestly didn't even think the kids would notice that he was gone.  Dharia, however, was inconsolable for the entire day after she asked where he was and I responded that he "left to be with his friends in the river."  She cried and cried and cried, asked where he was, and asked when he was coming back.  It was horrible. 

Today, Dharia and I made kind of a random trip into town to go shopping, just to get out of the house, really.  We stopped at Meijer to pick up some things and walked by the pet aisle.  I wasn't sure how she'd react, but I asked if she wanted to pick out a fish to take home.  When I lifted her out of the cart and placed her down at eye level with the aquariums, her eyes lit up and she squealed, "Yeah!"  Dharia watched the Meijer associate very closely as she carefully scooped up her choice of goldfish, then carefully held the plastic baggie containing the shell-shocked fish as we checked out and drove home.  When I asked her what the fish's name was, she looked at me like I was some kind of dolt.  "Goofy," she said as if she could not fathom how I would not know this.  For 19 cents, it looks like our Goofy is back.

Thank God for the return of Goofy the fish!

Lord, thank you for these little memories.  Thank you for our new pet and for what it means to my daughter.  Thank you for giving us some time to spend together.  I am so grateful to be able to hang out with such an amazing little person.  In your name I pray, Amen.

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