Saving Eleanor and James
A year ago today we were supposed to be buying goldfish. We’d filled the tank, set up the filter, and let it run all week. Only we never make it to the pet store.
It was one of those crisp November days that is beautiful to look at yet cold without a jacket. Not wanting to bring the toddler out for preschool pickup, we decided my husband would retrieve our son. I figured I had fifteen minutes. Twenty if they stopped at the fish pond near his school. But thirty minutes later and they still weren’t home.
Just when I was starting to worry, my son burst through the door, cheeks flushed and pants wet.
“Mom! We found fish! Me and my friend! We tried! To save them! We have to go back!”
“Fish?” I asked, confused.
My husband explained. The pond near the preschool belonged to a mansion now used as an event space. Every year they drain it for winter. The mansion doesn’t stock it with fish, but other people do. And at the end of the season, they become fish out of water. Literally.
My son and a friend had moved some of the fish to a fountain, using their school water bottles to catch them. The fish were safe, but for how long was uncertain.
“We have to go save them, Mommy!”
I thought of our new fish tank. “You don’t want a fish from the pet store?”
He shook his head without hesitation. So after picking up my oldest from school and ensuring she, too, was okay with the plan, we walked back to the pond and scooped two fish out with a bucket. Once home, we placed them in the tank and the kids named them. Eleanor and James.
The first couple weeks were rocky as both fish seemed hesitant to eat. But they soon adjusted and developed healthy appetites. Today they’re so big we may get them a bigger tank.
Though today I’m celebrating my son’s even bigger heart that wanted nothing more than to save two fish on a cold November day. I hope Eleanor and James will forever be a reminder of the power of showing kindness, of how our decisions can provide comfort and support. And sometimes, even save a life. Or two.