The damn fish finally kicked the bucket

I can't believe it finally happened. The goldfish finally bought the farm.

Frodo won him at the fair 3½ years ago and it just kept growing and thriving. It really was a pretty fish - a "comet" variety I found out. A few weeks ago, he developed some fin rot (sounds disgusting, and looks about that way too) then stopped eating. I bought some medicine for his tank and put it in. The weird stuff turned the water GREEN, it looked so bizzare! But it didn't work. We tried the medicine again. Still no success. He just kept getting sicker and sicker.

But damn if that fish didn't hold on a long time! Each night I'd keep thinking, "I bet the fish will die tonight.", and there he'd be, still making his fishy lips the next morning. I was the bad mommy and after Frodo went to school, I'd be in there saying "Just croak already!" to him. Seemed unfair to Frodo AND the fish to drag it out like that. I considered a mercy killing.... (for the fish) I just didn't know what exactly to put in the water....

Little Frodo is pretty heartbroken. I'm thinking "It's just a fucking goldfish!", but my heart breaks for Frodo. I don't like to see him in pain - it makes me cry too. But I suppose, as I teach him, life is a cycle. Every living thing eventually dies as well. A little *practice* with grief and a goldfish will only help him when he has to deal with it when a loved family member goes eventually.

Maybe I am an ok mom after all.