Today I’ve lost a friend, one I hadn’t met yet, one I was hoping to meet soon. One of those future friends who are so special that when someone describes them, you just know you’re going to click. Leta, my love, has lost something more.
Whale the Tail Blackie, the fish, is gone. I saw Leta cry for him, and all my criticisms about the cruelty of keeping a fish in a tiny bowl just died on my lips. Those of you who have pets know how difficult it can be when we outlast them, how much love we can put on those little animals that we care for, that care for us in their own ways. I look at my poor Conan struggling to climb onto my bed like he’s done every night since he was a puppy, suffering from that damned arthritis, and my heart breaks a little.
And now Leta’s lost her Blackie, and I’m not there to hug her. I hate death.
Open seas, Blackie. I wish we had met.