Goldie, we hardly knew ye....

We knew Goldie could die at any minute - she was a goldfish! But the Saturday night of New Year's Eve weekend? How sad! We didn't even get to enjoy her company for one whole year! If you listen to ChickChat or have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I was unnaturally attached to this goldfish. Some say displaced maternal instinct, but whatever. That fish was awesome!

It's probably best that she died while my fiancé’s daughters were with us, so they could have closure and we didn't have to tell them what had happened.

Goldie passed some time early Saturday evening, while we were in the room with her. Well, we were a little distracted playing Pictionary, but still - she didn't die alone!

When we realized she was gone, my fiancé scooped her lifeless little body out of the tank with a ladle, and we held a toilet-side funeral.

Everyone said a few words. I was pretty upset, but I think the words went something like this:

"I liked feeding you every morning,” said my Fiancé.

"You were cute," said D, the 13-year-old.

"I'll miss you Goldie, you were my favorite fish," said the 9-year-old.

"I'll miss you, too Goldie, you were a great fish and you made us all smile. I hope you're in a better place now, we'll never forget you,” I said as I did the ugly-cry. I wasn't too upset to notice that I was the only one crying.

We recounted all the fun we'd had with her. Goldie went to the beach on vacation with us, to a spa in Connecticut and even to New York City. I remembered the time she almost died a few months ago, and how I somehow nursed her back to health. Since then I had hand-fed her frozen peas every day. And every day we'd return blown kisses and talk to her.

And then, FLUSH. She was gone. Goldie was the best! You will be missed, little sweetheart. Swim on!

Cheers, Lara

PS Attention PETA: We upgraded her home from the bowl in that picture to a full-size tank months and months ago!

Comments

aw! rest in peace, goldie.

Even the passing of a goldfish can just be so sad! I remember how devastated I was when I lost Errol Finn . . . I moved that fish from DC to Florida with me! Sorry for your loss . . .

We had a goldfish called Sam and he was moving with us, but died after twelve years. It feels like a family member dying.

Lizzie - TWELVE years? I'd need a sedative to survive that. RIP, Sam! And thanks for your comments Amy and Kris. Sigh.

Aw, poor Goldie. She's in fishy heaven now.

I am deeply disturbed by the censorship I see on the iVillage blogs. A month or so ago a good friend of mine wrote movingly about the blog "Sex on My Desk." She said it reminded her of a time when men would chase women around the desk, of a time when in the workplace, women were considered second class at best and sex toys at worst. This is not the sort of woman who normally speaks up about anything, so I was proud of her. I referred several people to read the post, but guess what: it was removed after a day or two! I'm posting this to your blog, hoping you or someone at iVillage.com will see that censoring the comments of readers (unless they contain harsh or offensive language, which my friend's did NOT) is a suppression of women's rights. Please don't remove this post!