My Son's Tender Heart--Part 2

Well, as all of you know, I have a little boy who has a very tender heart.  I love that about him and I hope and pray that it is something he will continue to have even as an adult.  I am about to share a sweet story that can give you an idea of what I mean.  Dallin's birthday was on May 5th.  We had a party here for him and he invited a lot of his new friends and it was really fun.  One of the gifts that he got from his Aunt Heidi and his two cousins, Byron and Hunter, was a male Beta fighting fish.  He was very excited to have a pet.  Aunt Heidi showed him how to change the water and clean out the bowl and how to feed him and stuff like that.  He named the fish "Missile" and he enjoyed watching it swim around. 

I wasn't present during the fish caring tutorial, so I was unaware that the water needed to have "conditioner" put in it to balance out the chlorine that is in the water here.  The chlorine burns the fish and kills them if the conditioner isn't in the water.  When I had a beta fish, I lived in Oregon and there was no need for conditioner in the water, because as everyone knows, Oregon water is the best in the world!  Well, yesterday we changed Missile's water and Dallin forgot to put conditioner in the water.  When we got home, Missile was down at the bottom of the bowl.  Dead.  Crap.  I called Dallin down, preparing myself to give him the bad news.  I had hoped that since he had only had Missile for a month, it wouldn't be too bad.  At first it wasn't.  Dallin seemed to take it like a champ.  We had a little funeral service for Missile, then Dallin proceeded to flush the toilet--at which point he broke into very loud tears and sobs.  He buried his head into my stomach and cried his little heart out.  Then, he went up to his bed and continued to cry for a while.

Finally after he was calmed down a bit, he came into my room and snuggled up next to me.  We talked a little about Missile and I asked Dallin why he was so sad that he had died.  I asked him what it was that he loved the most about Missile.  Was it the way he would puff up if he saw his reflection?  Was it how Missile would swim into the little jar at the bottom of his bowl and "hide"?  Dallin looked at me as tears began to well up in his beautiful blue/gold eyes and he said, "No, Mom.  What I loved the most about Missile....was his love for me."  Then, he began to quietly cry again into my shoulder.  I just held him and smiled to myself.  A good mother probably wouldn't have smiled while their son was feeling so sad, but I guess I smiled because, not only did my son have a beautiful heart, but he genuinely believed that Missile had loved him too.  Quite honestly, I don't see how any being on this earth couldn't love Dallin--even a beta fish.  So, it is only fitting that Dallin believes it too.