Life moves on no matter what happens. When I was younger, I couldn't understand this.
       For example, when I was around 5 or 6, I had a pet goldfish named Bubbles. I talked to Bubbles about everything. He was practically my best friend.
      One day, I got home, and Bubbles wasn't in his tank.
"Mom, where's Bubbles? Wait, is he playing hide-and-seek?" Mom called me into the kitchen.
"Mary, come here please. You should sit down at the table."
I sat the kitchen table while Mom told me what happened to Bubbles.
"But, but why?" I cried. "He was my best friend!"
"I know, Sweetie. How about we have a funeral for Bubbles?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I'll get some of his fish food and his rock castle."
We put the items in a shoebox and took them to the backyard, where we had a funeral for Bubbles. We had the funeral that day, but I didn't truly understand that he was gone until about a week later.
    The day after the funeral, I ran up to the tank Bubbles had been in, and proceeded to talk to it about my day. I did this for about a week.
    On the seventh day, Mom called me into the kitchen as soon as I got home. "Mary, come here please." I turned to the tank. "I'll be right back Bubbles."
  "Honey, I was thinking that maybe we should get rid of the tank----"
"But where will Bubbles live?" Mom sighed. "Sweetie, do you remember last week, when we had a funeral for Bubbles? We put some fish food and his rock castle in the backyard?" I shook my head. "Nu-uh! Bubbles is over there, see?" I took Mom's hand and pulled her into the kitchen.
"Bubbles is still there, Mom. Look!" I did this for a good ten minutes before I took one last look at the empty tank, and sank to the ground, crying. I cried and cried and cried. Mom sat and hugged me. After about an hour of bawling my eyes out, I stood up.
"Mom, I wanna do something for Bubbles."
"What did you have in mind, Mary?" She asked.
"Well, Bubbles lived in the ocean at one point, right? So I was thinking we could go something to help other fish that live in the ocean."
"That's a great idea! Why don't we brainstorm some ideas, okay?" "Okay," I nodded.
     Years later I am the co-founder of Breathe For Bubbles, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping sea creatures of all shapes and sizes.
   I think I took the loss of Bubbles so hard because he was the first creature in my life to die. I was sad, but I'm glad I learned from the experience. You know that saying, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade? Well, I made lemonade and made a difference in the world.

     🐠IN LOVING MEMORY OF          BUBBLES AND LUCKY 🐠