Thursday, April 30, 2009

Saying Goodbye, part 2

So I did it. I told Nicholas about Emile. I explained that Emile had died and was in Heaven. The first thing Nic said was, "I want to go see him now." GULP.

I explained, "Honey, we can't see Emile anymore because he has gone to live in Heaven with God, he is very happy there and he will be there forever." He then tears out my hear by saying, "Mommy, this makes me so sad." I tell him I understand, that I am sad too and that it's okay to be sad. I explain that we will always love and miss Emile, but that one day, we will see him again. I explain that Emile is very happy right where he is now and we always want those we love to be happy.

After some hugging and more talking he perked up. He then asked, "Mommy, can I get another fish? It won't be Emile, but I liked having a fish." YES!! He gets it. It was hard, but I told him the truth, talked with him simply and honestly about it and he is doing well! I'm proud of him for understanding his feelings and being able to verbalize them so clearly to me. I'm proud that he understands that the new fish will not replace Emile.

Our new fish is named Remy. For those of you who don't know, Remy was Emile's brother in the movie Ratatouille.

I feel better that I was honest and helped Nicholas to understand this important life lesson. Thank you God for guiding my heart in the right direction.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Donna...it's Donna here from face book....my little boy's fish dies just recently too, we buried him under the lemon tree...I had to have the same talk you did...