Today I said good-bye to another of my most treasured pets: Bob the Goldfish.He had spent the last several weeks swimming upside down, the unfortunate symptom of a gas bubble in the bladder.
If he were a large, expensive koi, I would have probably ordered one of those metal pellets to stick into his little rear end, since gas bubbles like these apparently cannot be cured but are at least managed.
And although Bob was certainly large and fat, he wasn't quite as big as a koi, and so the metal pellet was not an option for him (and he actually looked relieved when I told him that).
I adopted Bob in the Spring of 2001, during an odd moment of my student teaching semester where I actually had a few minutes of free time to browse a pet store. I wasn't expecting to adopt a goldfish, but when I spotted him, I knew I was looking at the most HANDSOME goldfish I had ever seen. And so I toted him home in a plastic bag!When I moved out of my parents' house, Bob came with me. But when my social activities increased and his tank water started to be perpetually green as a result, he moved back home to be with my parents, knowing that he'd be better cared for there. My parents took great care of him for many years, and--when he developed this embarrassing gas condition--went to great lengths to see that he was comfortable. They never gave up on him! Just like what they did with Cotton! And just like they did with me! They have taken good care of all the life that God has put under their watch, no matter what form that life may take.
Rest in peace, Bob!
