Bubble

The other night I went in the back yard to find Luke, with the help of his dog Hank, digging a hole in the middle of the backyard.  

Um, why are you two digging a hole in the yard?

It’s a grave for Bubble.

Bubble was our fish.  And he was not just any old fish.  Four years ago I decided to make a small fish pond on our patio using a half whiskey barrel and we bought four 15 cent fish at the pet store.  Within the first year, three of them died, but Bubble lived on.  That fish survived a huge snow storm and freezing weather for days and extreme heat, including the horrible 100 degree plus heat wave of last summer.  We really have no idea how he died, other than maybe he lived out the life span of a 15 cent goldfish.

So, I really could not tell Luke that we would not bury the fish in the back yard.  I let him continue to dig the grave and  I texted Josh to let him know that when he arrived home he would need to assist in the burial.

After a few more minutes passed by Luke came in and told me Hank was outside finishing up the digging of the grave and he was going to make the stone.

The stone?

Yeah, you know, with his name and date of birth and death.

After he finished with the stone, Luke grabbed a piece of paper and wrote out the order of the funeral service.  And just as he was finishing that up, Josh got home.

The burial service for Bubble started with Josh placing him in his grave and Luke covered him up with the dirt.  I then placed the headstone at the grave.  We all had a moment of silence for Bubble.  Then the three of us stood over Bubble and sang Amazing Grace.  Then we each took turns saying a prayer for Bubble.  Josh started, followed by me, and then Luke ended the prayer.  As I stood there, head bowed looking down at Luke I was so touched by his sweet spirit to plan all of this for his fish.  Tears formed in my eyes and a huge smile came over my face.  We are so blessed by such a sweet and caring boy.  After the prayer, we took a moment to reflect on Bubble and then we all said good-bye and touched the stone.

Bubble, you are truly a fish I will never ever forget.  And I will certainly never forget your burial service.