Sam with Shortleg the day he got him Feb/2008In the above post I mention how I would be giving the kids some bad news. I also mentioned how in the morning of the first day of school, I noticed Shortleg in a bad way. I didn't bring attention to him so Sambo wouldn't worry about him on his big day. I slyly told dad to go look at the frog. He came back downstairs and gave me a look that confirmed my fear: Shortleg was dead.
From the way he looked all sprawled-out on his back, there was no question he was dead. Sam had to rush off to work, and I was rushing out the door to follow the bus and take pictures of the kids at school, so we decided to deal with him later that afternoon.
About 4:00 that day, we looked in the tank and Shortleg had moved to his water bowl! He wasn't dead! He looked really pale, but he had moved! We were so relieved, but then Sam picked him up and he wasn't moving at all, not responding. Our hopes died as we realized he was dying, on his way home. We looked at each other and we were both surprised how sad we felt. Not only because he was an awesome pet but because we knew it would break Sam's heart.
I immediately got on the phone and started making phone calls to any pet store who might know if there is something I could do to save him.
We were racking our brains trying to figure out what could be killing him because he was his normal chipper self just 2 days prior when we fed him 8 grasshoppers.
I mentioned this to the guy and he said, "You have to be careful with grasshoppers, did you pull off his hind legs?"
"No, why?"
"Some bigger hoppers have spiny hind legs. The sharp spines can damage their G.I tract and cause death."
Nice to know.
By that night he was gone for sure. Sam put him in a box and into the freezer. We told the kids and I'm not kidding you, I cried. I cried because I could feel Sambo's pain as his deep heartfelt cry came hollering out when he heard the news. As cruel as it sounds, I wish we had a video camera to record all 4 kids reactions. Millie sobbing, Sambo crying HARD, Will crying on and off, and Quincy fake crying. As we tucked Sam into bed and comforted him he sadly said things like:
"I thought I would have Shortleg when I got married"
"Will I see him in heaven?"
"Is it okay if I still feel sad when I wake up?"
"He was such a good friend"
Our pets sure have come in handy in teaching our kids some of life's lessons :)
We have used a past cat named "Carter" to teach Millie about change and moving. She was feeling sad about moving from our old neighborhood in Mtn. Green to Draper. The day before we moved here, we could not find Carter anywhere. We told Millie that "see, even cats have to get new homes." She was content with that. No one saw Carter again.
We are using our experience of trying to breed Daisy about the birds and bees; just little bits of info. The kids have been wondering about when it will be time for puppies and about Daisy going to visit a boy dog in Provo for a week. We are telling just enough to keep them satisfied. Last week, Will saw some dogs trying to mate and said, "I think that dog wants a piggy back ride!"
(We are still waiting to see if Daisy is pregnant. Who knew it's such a process? Post on that coming)
Today we used Shorgleg to teach and emphasize about what happens after death. They have heard about this before but I can tell that having experienced it in real life with Shortleg, they seem to understand more and feel better about our Savior's plan.
When Millie and I returned home from the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication, we held a Clark family funeral. Everyone took a turn saying something about Shortleg, Sam dug a hole, then we covered him and made a gravesite.
Shortleg was the size of a quarter when we got him, when he died at 1.5 years, he was the size of a softball. R.I.P.
