June 6, 2000  I Miss Him
 

                            
 

Arizona
Spring 1998- June 5, 2000

From humble beginnings, Arizona became a well loved fish. I will never forget the day we brought him home from the Lewis County Fair in the summer of 1998. He was not more than a few months old then, and silver.  He was silver like the desert. I loved him from the beginning.

In those early days, he lived in a regular old fish bowl. Sometimes he was not a good eater, spitting out food. Sometimes he was not a good swimmer. He floated more than he needed to so he was always swimming down to stay in the bowl. Despite all of this he was happy and healthy. Many fish came and went that summer but Z lived on.

I went to Guatemala that fall, and Arizona went to live with Jenna. I won't speak to how much she will miss him, but I know she will. (Jenna says it for herself, after this message, "Somehow it seemed like he would be around forever.  I was so scared that he would die when I was taking care of him the first winter that when he got through it, it
seemed possible that he would never die somehow..." I missed him terribly that winter. In my journal I had a picture of Arizona and my girlfriend. It was tough explaining in my broken spanish, what the pictures were of. I am not sure if many people in Guatemala have pet fish. I didn't know the word for pet, and if I had it would have been hard to explain that he was more my friend than my pet.

I was so happy to see Arizona in the Spring. I bought him a huge ten gallon tank with all the stuff. I don't  know if he was all that much happier, but he was still happy. His tank was so big, and lived in one of the offices, the office became known as Arizona's Office, but he was nice enough to share with the program director. This is when Arizona became larger than his tank.

                               

You see him pictured here with Spot, and a cartoon that was drawn last summer. In the cartoon, the Dutch counselor eats peanut butter, goes boating and gets chased by the Hydrofax (a monster in our lake). Don't fret, Arizona saves the day, by chasing a way the Hydrofax. Arizona was a hero to us all.

Arizona is survived by four happy fish brothers and sisters: Carl Lewis, That Other Fish, Hello Fish!, and Spot. His elder brother Utah, passed away in 1998. Arizona's human family will miss him much, but none more than Abby, Jenna, and myself.

Rest in Peace, my friend.
MiXiM