Our Fish Is On The Roof

/ Katybeth

 

Bad news—Joy our Koi died. This has not been a good week for pets in our house. I don’t know what happened. Just yesterday, Joy was swimming happily, wagging her little fish fins in her beautifully decorated fish tank. This morning she was floating at the top of the tank.  Cole doesn’t know yet, and I’m not going to tell him until he wonders where Joy is, and then I will say she is on the roof. You don’t know that old joke? Allow me . . .

While sunning himself in the Bahamas, a wealthy English businessman received a telegram from his butler that read simply, “Cat dead.” Distraught at the loss of his beloved pet, the businessman cut short his holiday and returned home. After giving the cat a decent burial in the garden, he remonstrated with his butler about the cold-hearted nature of the telegram.

“You should break bad news gently,” he said. “If I had to tell you that your cat had died, I would have sent a telegram saying, “The cat’s on the roof and can’t get down.” Then a few hours later, I would have sent another telegram saying, “The cat’s fallen off the roof and is badly hurt.” Finally, a couple of hours after that, I would have sent a third telegram, saying, “The cat has sadly passed away.” That way, you would have been gradually prepared for the bad news and would have been able to deal with it better.”

“I understand, sir,” said the butler. “I will bear that in mind in future.”

With that, the businessman booked another ticket to the Bahamas and resumed his holiday.

Two days later, he received another telegram from his butler. It read, “Your mother’s on the roof and can’t get down.”

I think I’ll leave our beautiful aquarium up in honor of Ping Pong and Joy the Koi and name our next fish Figment.

♥

14 thoughts on “Our Fish Is On The Roof”

  1. Oh Katybeth. Sorry about Joy but you do make me laugh. Maybe you just aren’t meant to have fish. Or maybe you haven’t found the right fish. I say try again.

    • Maybe we aren’t….I wish I knew what the right fish was…maybe a fake fish? We might try again after we have morned an appropriate length of time.

  2. Saw your post pop up and popped over. Oh My. It has been a rough week for you. Sorry to hear about Joy the Koi. Fish can be tricky. I had never heard that joke (LOL) and will keep in mind the next time I have to share bad news.

  3. Loved the story, sad about the fish. Let me tell you, you can go broke trying to keep fish in a tank . I am speaking from experience . Bought the whole kit and caboodle for grandsons and every week we were buying replacements. They soon tired of fish shopping so that project came to an end, much to my delight.

    • Lol. I think fish in a aquarium are hard. Or maybe it’s just us. Cole will probably give it another go but the fish tank sure looks pretty all nice, clean and empty!

  5. So sorry to hear about Joy. Having lost many an aquarium resident myself, I know just what you’re going through. It could have been a draft or maybe she brought home some ick from the pet shop. With fish, it’s hard to tell. Fortunately, we never hugged them (not really), so it’s a tiny bit easier letting them go. Not like with dogs and cats.

    • Thanks. Who knows. She came from my brother-in-laws pond and was pretty healthy for about 3 months. I am going with draft. We cleaned the tank, moved it and will more than likely try again but I am not sure when….No drama other than wondering why….and thinking about her fondly.

  6. Awww…that sad about Joy, coming on the heels of the dog too. We had fish for years. Not the same fish…a series of fish. I do know the tank stays cleaner without them… 🙂

    • Thank you for sharing but that is obviously not Joy–it was a metaphor, so to speak, for the “fish is on the roof.” May I challenge you to surf the web for an attractive roof fish ornament..it’s not easy.

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