He was a very good fish . . .
Diddo
Sometime in 2006 or 2007- April 24, 2011
He was a very good fish.
My son Sam had a fish. In a house full of various and assorted allergies, a fish is about all you can have, and he had a good one. Diddo (pronounced "Ditto" but spelled "Diddo," I checked) had beautiful gold scales and a very large tail. His bulging eyes weren't that of a regular pet store goldfish. They were extra large and extra. . . beautiful.
It's a funny thing about fish. When you first bring one home, you prepare for the worst. But Diddo was here to stay, and he outgrew tank after tank. Sam entertained him with different plastic plants, stickers of skateboarders, and different views from the dresser.
We had our ups and downs, for sure. Diddo gave us a few scares, especially in the last few months. He often liked to float to the top of the tank, which is not a good place to find a goldfish, but there he would float, on his side, breathing, floating, breathing, floating. Causing me, the newly appointed "fish whisperer" to hold midnight vigils by the tank, gently poking, and sometimes petting. There were several nights at 2:00 am where I would be down in the kitchen with Diddo, cleaning the tank, hoping that a complete tank re-do would revive a wilting fish. It was worth it in the mornings when I could triumphantly proclaim victory, watching Diddo happily swimming mid-tank, yet again. All of the Chafe family visited Diddo in Sam's room, fed him, and gave him his crushed green peas when he was floating too much (it's true, and it worked!) I am quite certain that when I took Sam's laundry into his room, Diddo would swim to the side to say hello.
Almost always, after a scare, Diddo would earn a new tank, or a plant, or an improved filter. (Come to think of it, he was probably a very crafty fish, indeed!) I would bet (or at least hope) that an improved habitat would refresh and invigorate this tiny pet. Sam would come home from school to find the new tank with blue gravel, the tank with the wavy background, or best yet, the tank with the light. Sam loved the tank with the light, but when it grew too small for our fish, we had to let the lighted tank go. Our most recent tank came with a light again— Sam was thrilled! But it lasted one day and burned out. And before we could even replace the bulbs, Diddo died.
Diddo died on Easter Sunday. We found him very peacefully resting on the bottom of his tank, which was a place that Diddo never went, being the fish that liked to float at the top of the water. Everyone distracted Sam so that I, the fish whisperer one last time, could remove Diddo to a tiny, prepared box (we do not flush fish in this family, not ever) and then take the tank from the room. I asked Sam if he wanted to leave the tank and get a new fish.
"No. Not yet."
So the tank is gone for now. Sam wants to bury Diddo outside in a special garden he plants every year under the lampost. That's perfect, I think. Diddo will have his light.
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