"I've Never Missed A Stranger Before"

In memory of one tonka tough goldfish

You were an amazingly friendly fish little Angus

We'll miss you and the way you lit up our kitchen counter

For those that don't know, I received a goldfish from my university last semester as part of what was known to us as our "kit project". Each student in the unit 'Visual Praxis' was given a bucket full of bits and pieces to make art from, as well as inspire us. You can only imagine the commotion that came with discovering one of these "items" was a live goldfish!

I was almost certain that he was going to die the day I got him, the poor bugger. But alas, he survived for just about 5 months! And now his sadly drawn out death (it was over 2 days) will indeed continue to serve as inspiration.

It was funny what issues surfaced in the event of a goldfish dying. For one, my mother and I had opposing views concerning euthenasia for a fish - And it surely made me question my values. Would I feel the same about a human? Could I bare to let them suffer right through to the end? It's also troubling me a little that I'm not too upset by his death. Is it because I expected him to die sooner rather than later that whole time, or simply because I never bothered to give the fish a personality, like we tend to do for other pets such as cats and dogs?

So be the questions of life...