Death comes unexpectedly

On Thursday Zoe asked me for the millionth time where Fif (her fish) was.  I was hoping she had forgot about it and I wouldn't have to tell her what really happened, but this time when she asked I knew I had to just tell her the truth.

I nicely said that Fif died and went to fish heaven.  She looked so shocked and immediately sobbed and sobbed.  Her tiny little heart broke in two right in front of my eyes and I couldn't handle it.

I held my daughter as she cried and cried over a silly fish.  Trying explain this part of life to my daughter is the hardest thing I have done so far when it comes to parenting.  There was nothing I could say...I just held my baby girl.

When she calmed down some she said she wanted to call her dad.  We got to FaceTime him and she again cried as she told her daddy about her loss.  To make her feel better Paul asked her how she felt about going to the pet store and buying a new fish.  Immediately Zoe said, "Why? So another one can die?"  I didn't know if there was anything that would make her feel better at this point.  But the more she thought about it, the more she warmed up to the idea.

On Friday Paul got off work early and we all went to the pet store as a family.  The kids loved seeing all the fish, turtles, birds, etc.  Zoe and Max finally decided on a pretty blue Betta fish.  After much thought, and persuading Zoe that naming her fish after fruits or herself was not a good idea, Zoe decided to name her new fish Mr. Blue.  I think we all can handle that name.

Now Mr. Blue lives on the kitchen table where we all can see him and enjoy his beauty!

I wish this would be the only time I had to deal with this part of parenting, but I know this is only the beginning.  God help us to know what we're doing!