Description:Sorry about the scan. The greens came out a little wonky. I did a lot of pen work on this-the scrolls are I traced on there and then colored in. I also outline the little circles in the arrow as well as drew in the alphabets etc.
I know this photo isn't the best but what can you expect when you get a photo of a dead fish. The story is what I really wanted to tell, anyway. Scroll down and read the journaling at the bottom of this. You won't be sorry! Thanks for looking!
Nora
Death. This is not a concept that I wanted to have to teach you at the age of 5. I wanted to shelter you from this kind of pain as long as I could. However, I had no control over this one.
I didn’t even want a fish tank. It was Daddy’s idea. So when the first fish, Goldie, died two days after we bought it, it was DEVESTATING to you. “This is the worst day of my life,” you said. Then you sobbed FOR HOURS!!!! Asking me over and over and over… “WHY?” How am I to answer that?
You tried to reason it out in your 5 year-old mind: “Well, it is a circle of life. He will be food for the plants but what about his bones? Waahhh!!” And the best one; “Mommy, you understand how I feel because your mother is dead.” Ok, I cannot equate a fish with my mother but you got there and I just agreed with you, trying not to laugh as the tears were running down MY face. I felt so helpless to make you understand any of this. It was one of the first times that no matter what I did, I couldn’t prevent you from feeling sad. I couldn’t kiss it and make it better.
Instead of a burial in the backyard, Daddy talked you into flushing the dead body down the toilet. You insisted on Daddy taking a photo of Goldie before he removed it from the tank. “I bet Mommy took a picture of her mother when she died,” was your explanation. Of course I hadn’t but if it helped you, who was I to protest?
The next day you woke up sad but you went to school and told your classmates of your fish’s demise during news time. You seemed to feel better after this so when the next fish died two days later, it wasn’t so dramatic. You just cried a little.
Whose bright idea was it to get you this fish tank anyway? Oh yeah, that would be DADDY!!!
Products Used:Cardstock: Bazzill
PP: KI Memories from the Color Theory Collection; Arrow: My Own design
Scrolls: Traced from Fancy Pants Design chipboard and colored in
Stamps: Fonwerks (george outline); Perpetua; American Crafts Alphabet Stickers
Transparencey: G
Love this LO. You did an excellent job. When my dd's first fish died I wasn't ready to face it, so I ran out and search for a similar looking fish. She came home from Kindergarten that day and asked me why her fish was a different shade.
Excellent journaling.
