Fond Farewell to a Fish

Magical batfish
You let us all pet your scales
Are you fish or cat?

Ruler of the "sea"
You shocked your enemies dead
You just wanted friends

Giant empty tank
Starry and crabby miss you
Do fish have heaven?


Farewell, sweet Batty. We'll miss you.

Dramatic? Yes. But really, it's so weird how a fish can feel like a pet. I came home for the weekend and though I knew Batty had died, it was quite shocking to see a big empty tank (save for Starry the starfish and Crabby the crab. We've always been really creative with naming our tank pets, eh?) And on that note, every time I come home, I swear Calvin has died. She just turned 16 and is so very frail and goes into crazy sleep comas where you'd swear she was dead if you couldn't see her breathing. She's the last pet left and then it's a changing tide for the Friedmans. Out go the cats and in come the kids. I look forward to having babies in the family, but I sure will miss the way things are now at family get-togethers, i.e. FUN!

Bend never changes. I went out on Saturday night to the usual spots and as expected, ran into the usual characters. The major difference this time was that we started at the D. What a foolish plan. As a result, today felt like death. For many years I avoided eye contact with people from my past for fear that they might not remember who I am and then it will be so incredibly awkward. I'm noticing as I get older, other people are starting to go out of their way to say hi. Are they desperate for gossip about old mutual friends? Are they making amends for their tool bag behavior from high school? I think I liked it better when we all looked away.

I love to come home and sleep in my old room, surrounded in purple walls and snow globes. On the other hand, I feel so disconnected from my real life the second I get here.

Time
to
go
Back.