Bless the Beasts and the Children

For in this world they have no voice,
They have no choice.

Bless the beasts and the children.
For the world can never be,
The world they see.
(The Carpenters, 1972)

Tina, “the tiny widdle tordle” died this week.
Nick is devastated.
He’s still one of those children the song talks about.
The cycle of life, at 11 years old, is a heartbreaking lesson.

Tina was a great pet.
Having two dogs in the house, Jordie and Mike favor Ziggy.
Nicholas, who is the family peacekeeper, divides his love equally, which leaves me to defend Tucker, (rhymes with…)
But we all adored Tina, she was fun.

This summer, we discovered a rather large box turtle living in our backyard.
He was usually in the flower garden, but occasionally we’d find him on the brick patio.
I remember one morning Nick noticed the turtle out there, and ran up and got Tina.
He put them face to face, and was convinced they became fast turtle friends. (Pun intended)

We’re going to bury Tina tomorrow morning.
We’ll do it in the flower garden.
That way, she will be close to her friend.

I told Nick, (in a moment of weakness while consoling him), that we could get him another pet.
He told me he didn’t want any more.
It’s too hard to say goodbye.