We disposed of Maurice today

Poor Maurice. He was the heartiest little beta fish I have EVER seen.

He came to us about 5 1/2 years ago in one of those cute bamboo plants with the fish in the bottom of the vase. He lived in our kitchen on our island and gave us great pleasure. We named him Maurice because I had a goldfish when I was little that was named Maurice that lived a long time (for goldfish).

In the beginning we were very attentive to Maurice's needs, but as time passed, we became less so. We would leave for a week at the beach and Maurice wouldn't get fed. But, he always survived. The water began to get little floaty things in it, but Maurice continued to persevere. Eventually, the bamboo got moldy and yucky, so we threw it out. We got a regular fish bowl for Maurice and were very careful about changing the water and getting new rocks. But, he survived that move. Without the bamboo, however, the water and fish bowl got gross pretty fast.

When we moved, Maurice and his "home" were really an eye-sore, not so much fun any more. Maurice was clearly old and weak. He didn't swim around much. We think he became blind because he had difficulty finding his food (when we remembered to feed him). For at least 2 years we've been expecting to come home and see him floating. When we moved to our new house a little over a year ago, Maurice no longer got to live in the kitchen. His bowl was just too disgusting. He got to live on Will's dresser because Will wasn't ready to just put Maurice out of his misery. We were going to let him die a natural (and slow) death.

You might ask why we didn't change the water and try to be better parents to Maurice. Our rationale was because he wouldn't survive the move. His body had gotten so accostomed to the green gook and slime, that to have clean water would put him over the edge.

This morning, we found Maurice resting at the bottom of his bowl, unresponsive. With tapping and shaking, he still didn't move. When we took him out of the water and rested him on a paper towel, it was clear that Maurice had passed on.

I don't know what Will did with him after that. He didn't get flushed. I doubt he was buried.

I'd like to be able to say that I'll miss Maurice. I really won't. I'm actually relieved because I felt sorry for the little neglected sucker. He was a very hearty fish. He was a survivor. He hung on to life through 5 1/2 years of harsh living conditions. In reflection, I admire Maurice and clearly didn't give him enough credit. Maurice was a good fish, despite the fact that we were bad parents.

I guess now we can clean that nasty fish bowl and put it on a shelf for another day and likely a different purpose.