R. I. P. Tommy

Tommy passed away in the early afternoon of June 24th, 2013. I had noticed he was struggling a little to breath this morning and was a little worried but he'd acted that way before so I convinced myself that he would be fine. What worried me more was that, when I tried to feed him, he didn't want any food. Tommy loves food. I am convinced that he has lived the past year and eight months upside down simply because he loved it so much he wanted to keep on eating it no matter his condition. He was such a happy little fish and seeing him so docile and calm was a little unsettling. I figured he would be alright though. I put a small dose of medication in the tank and fed the rest of the fish before going out to do my work in the yard. A couple of hours later, I cam back in to find him completely still. I watched him for a long time, waiting for any signs of breathing, but it soon dawned on me that he had passed. I pulled him out of the tank and put him in a separate bucket of water, just in case, and gave it a couple of hours (always checking on him) before I would let myself announce his death to any of my friends and family. I just finished burying him a few minutes ago. I tried to make his little grave as nice as I could. I promised him that I would make sure to finish his children's books someday so that his memory could live on. He is in a better place now and part of me is relieved that he doesn't have to sit there and wait for me to drop food right in front of him or give him a whole frozen cube of shirmp. There is a hole in my heart where he belongs. I will miss him swimming under the filter and enjoying the current as it pushed him down into the tank so he could float back up and do it all over again. He was a lively, energetic, loving, and beautiful fish. I plan on getting one just like him and naming him after Tommy. He will, of course, go by Junior but he will be a living memory of one of the most interesting fish I have ever known. He was a fighter and I will miss him dearly. I love you Tommy.