R.I.P. Mango

As I've mentioned before, the sole pet the past 3 years in Robinson County has been Norah's beloved fish friend, Mango.

 Sadly, as of April 4th, Mango is  no longer with us in body, but I'm confident his memory will be well preserved for many years to come in the mind of the family members here who loved him.

I worried that Norah would have a hard time coping with the loss of her first pet.  (Yes, as melodramatic as that may sound, to be nervous at the seemingly insignificant loss of a $5 beta fish, he had resided here for 3/5 of Norah's life, and she was very attached) So, I suggested that she memorialize him in art. (You can tell she was still broken up, emotionally at the time of this photo)

As usual, I was taken aback by her attention to detail.  She got the shape of his bowl down perfectly, he was a peach fish, and had turquoise and pink glass rocks in the bottom of his bowl. The bright colored patchwork in the upper right corner is a nearly perfect depiction of her curtains. The "rainbow" that he is sitting over is her bookcase, where he lived (her books are still arranged in color order).  Note the alarm clock to the left of the bowl.  It reads "5:00"...Norah explained to me this is because that's her favorite time of day because, "that's when Daddy comes home from work!"

This is still one of my favorite photos of N with Mango.  I can't count how many times I would find her in her room, gazing into his bowl.  She loved to watch him swim. Sometimes she told him about her day.  And best of all, she loved feeding him before she went to bed at night.

All loyalties aside though, she almost immediately began asking if she could get another pet fish...and (being the suckers  caring parents that we are) we quickly consented.  Enter "Figgy".  Norah chose him for his flashy purple color, and decided that she should keep with the exotic fruit category for his name.  (It took us a while to find a suitable purple fruit which met her approval).  Sadly, Figgy didn't fare as well as our old friend, Mango.  He only lasted about a month.  Which brings us back to square one...petless in Robinson County.  And (at least for now), we think we'll keep it that way for a little while.