File Under: Lessons in Mortality

When a parent allows a child a first pet, we all know that we are on a path to a lesson in mortality.  Along the way we impart the values of nurturing and responsibility.  We impress upon their young minds what it truly means to care for another living creature, all the while, dreading the inevitable tears and heartache

My nine year old son was gut punched by that inevitability today.  It appears that while we were gone for the weekend, his hamster, Phoebe, passed in her sleep.  My wife (thank goodness), found her in her little house, curled up, with her eyes closed, surrounded by her "stash."  A peaceful end, that so many of us may never get.

Telling my son was so very hard.  I could see it rip right through him.  No hesitation in fully grasping what it all meant.  The last time we had to explain death, he was five, and he really couldn't grasp it; not so now. 

I have to wonder if he feels some guilt for the times he complained about caring for her.  We'll have to make him understand that she had a good little hamster life.  She never wanted for food or water and she had a warm little house of her very own.

The thing I'm really not sure of, is who's heart is breaking more.  His, for the loss of his pet, or ours for his pain.