The Story Behind Edmond Nemo - the Fish

So the last entry you were introduced to the famous Edmond Nemo, but lets get to how he got that name.  You see, both of our children are OBSESSED right now with the Narnia series and they pretend all the time that they are the characters in the movies.  Ava is usually Susan and Christian refers to her as Susan all the time.  For example, he says, "waaaa, Susan hit me."  :)  She calls him Peter and Edmond, depending on who she wants to call him.  These names, Susan - Lucy - Edmond - and Peter get tossed around alot at our house.

Okay, so on our way home from the shower, as they were discussing what to name the fish, Christian wanted to name him Nemo first.  Then a few minutes later he referred to him as Edmond.  Ava then suggested we call him Edmond Nemo Bumbaugh.  This worked for Christian, so that is the name that stuck.  :) 

On our way home, Christian was soooo excited about his first real pet, his fish!!! He kept laughing and asked if Edmond Nemo could sleep in his room.  Then he yell to the fish from his car seat and he would say, "hi buddy, you okay down dere?"   He was really quite ecstatic about the whole thing.  Ava was upset that she didn't get one, but after awhile and a few conversations on the way home, she was over it and just decided to "help" Christian take care of his Edmond Nemo.

We drove about two hours and didn't get home till late that night, but even though they had both fallen asleep, they immediately woke up to see the fish once we got home.  They ran in and hurried to change into their pjs so they could see Edmond Nemo.  That night, we decided to let him sleep in Christian's room.  Christian wanted to pet him but we explained that if you pet a fish, they die.  I know,  a little drastic, but we had to scare him.  Anyway, so we were tired and went to bed, but the kids stayed up and talked to the new friend they had brought home.  I peeked in their room to see them squatted down and staring in the fish bowl and they were talking to him.  Christian was saying things like, "hi buddy, you are so cute.  I love you." and it was the sweetest voice you ever heard.  Ava was helping Christian to show him all of his toys and they were treating him like he was a new puppy.  :)  SO sweet. I think Micah and I layed over in our room listening for quite awhile, and we were having to stuff pillows in our mouths to keep the kids from hearing us laugh.  It really was an unforgettable experience.

The next few days, weeks went well.  We changed and cleaned the water and fed the fish.  He seemed to be doing well and Christian was so proud of his fish.  He told everyone about this fish he loved so much.  Pappy Sweetheart kept asking Christian if he could eat the fish when he came to visit and Christian would get upset and tell him "NO Pappy."  Poor kid, I think he actually believed Pappy. :)

So, we were in the kitchen and Micah changed Edmond Nemo's water.  The fish was swimming around fine and then all of a sudden, Micah got my attention and just like that Edmond Nemo had rolled over on his side and was floating on top in a very peculiar manner.  So sad.  We checked to make sure and then we called Christian over to talk to him.  Daddy picked Christian up and told him we had some very sad news for him.  Christian, our little always happy child, was smiling and shaking his head yes.  When we told him Edmond Nemo had died, he first started laughing, almost as though he wasn't sure of his reaction and then when he realized what was said and we were not joking, his whole demeanor changed and he started to sob.  We hugged him for quite awhile and he was so so sad.  He took it really hard and it broke our hearts.  We tried to comfort him and we sat in the living room and cried with him. 

The very sad pet owner of Edmond Nemo. . .saying goodbye. 

Then, when we thought long enough had passed, we heard something from the kitchen.  He had snuck out and was talking in a very sad quiet voice.  This is what we heard coming from the kitchen, and it made us both tear up.  "I miss you fishy. . .sniffle . . . "  then something about loving Edmond and so on and so forth. We couldn't hear all word for word, but it was HEARTBREAKING and then we heard.  "you kidding me!!!"  and here what he had done was knocked the butt of a knife against the fish and since the fish obviously moved, then he thought Edmond was still alive.  His whole demeanor changed.   We tried to tell him that he was still dead, but he wouldn't believe it.  I guess his own state of denial.   Anyway, so we had a little service around the toilet as Christian flushed Edmond Nemo to his watery grave.

He did flush the toilet on his own, but we think he thought Nemo was still alive.  Guess we will just let him think that. :)

Micah typed up an obituary, since it was O week after all and it was fitting. :)  Below is the obituary.

Edmond Nemo died in his tank today, May 14, 2011, of natural causes. He was the pet goldfish of Edmond/Peter/Christian (depending on the day) Bumbaugh. His birth date is unknown, but he arrived in our home on April 29, 2011. He was full of life, and outlived his life expectancy of one week.
He is survived by an aunt Lucy/Susan/Ava (depending on the day) Bumbaugh, and Grandparents, Micah and Michelle Bumbaugh. After a brief private ceremony, he was sent to the sea via the porcelain bowl.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that monetary donations be made to the surviving grandparents :)