Rowdy took such good care of them. While pets are more of an annoyance to me, I often found him and the kids returning from a trip to the pet store to get only the best crickets and worms money could buy (to my disgust). Their habitat was immaculately clean and they were certainly adored.
About a 1 1/2 weeks ago things started to go wrong. Their appetite was gone and their bodies (tails) were shrinking rapidly. Looked like a parasite and even though we force fed them, their tiny gecko bodies couldn't handle the sickness.
Anakin passed away on August 31st and Zilly soon followed on September 3rd. It was tragic. Kai cried when he found out his died (wailed, really) for a good 1/2 hour and Brianna followed suite. However, I think the worst moment was when Zilly left us. After our last attempt to make her eat (it took us a good 30 minutes each night to get her jaw opened), I put the kids to bed and Rowdy settled the sick gecko in her bed, too. After awhile I went to find him and he said that Zilly was dead. "Are you sure?" I asked. He said "Yes. She opened her eyes the widest I have seen in over a week...looked at me... and then her heart stopped." We decided not to tell Brianna until the morning for fear of nightmares, but suddenly she came to get me and said "Zilly isn't moving!" I tried to play it off and told her not to worry about it, but once I looked in the cage at the motionless body I knew I had to tell her the truth.
What followed next was nothing short of tragic. We made a box for her and planted her outside underneath the pepper plant until a new location could be found in the daylight. As Rowdy and I prepared to piece the cardboard lighbulb box together, Brianna came back with cut out hearts and written words to bury with her. TEARS, people. Tears.
I think what surprised me most was Rowdy's heartache in it all. It shouldn't really, because he took such great care of them and was overjoyed to find them for the kids in the first place. But it was so sad to see him...so sad. He couldn't make them better for his children, and that hurt(s) him deeply.
Farewell, dear gecko friends. Farewell.
Posts
6 comments:
that's so sad:( I had a gecko once and it also didn't fair very well:(
Ahh. That is sad. I remember when we had fish. I always complained about them and how they stunk, etc. But then one day our fish got sick and started to die. I was so sad. Very sad. My kids were too.
Such a great lesson on the cycle of life, though. Sniffles. RIP!
So sorry. I hope the kids will feel better soon and remember the happy memories.
When our dog died almost two years ago now, my kids got a big flat rock and some Sharpie markers and made her a grave stone. I was so sad when Carmen died, but it was SO MUCH WORSE to see the kids so sad. They sat there and rubbed the stone clean and wrote everything they loved about the dog on that stone... the writing has all worn off now, but the stone is still there.
I'm sorry about your gheckos. :(
Oh, dear. That is such a sad thing.
"/
PS. So darling, though, of your cute daughter to cut our hearts and write down words for her pet.
Your comment about how Rowdy was sad because it wasn't something he could "fix" for his kids... is exactly why my husband refuses to get a dog for our kids. :(
Post a Comment