Have you ever loved a pet so much, that it was like a member of the family? Have you ever had to make the tough decision of letting go of something or someone you love? Well, we haven't, but we got some practice as to what it might be like.
I am not a pet lover. I am not a dog or a cat person. I am certainly not a hamster or gerbil keeper, thanks to some nasty experiences with my brother's rodents eating their young, not to mention the smell! And I'm not keen on the expense that comes along with keeping an aquarium. I'm not against other people having pets, that's great. I just have no desire to care for something that can't feed or clean-up after itself, children excluded of course. However, when Lincoln received a turtle from some friends for his birthday I thought we could try to make a go of it. His name was Todd and he was very timid. The first couple of days Todd was overwhelmed with attention from Max and Lincoln, always wanting to hold and play with him. However, once the initial excitement wore off, he was soon just a fixture on the window sill. Except that he required feeding and his tank required cleaning, which of course fell to me.
I began warming the kids to the idea that Todd was really meant to swim in larger ponds, to mingle with other turtles, to live a fuller, richer life then his current status offered. I likened his small container to having to spend all day, every day in your bedroom with nothing to play with. It took a few weeks, but finally the boys decided that Todd indeed had a meager life on our window sill and that releasing him into the wild would be an act of selfless, kindness on their behalf. I assured Max and Lincoln that I had found the perfect pond where he was sure to have lots of friends and adventures.
After cleaning up a particularly disgusting container of turtle doo-do, I decided the time had come. We piled into the car and headed toward Todd's new home. Once there, we scouted out the best place to release our little pet into murky pond waters. The boys said their goodbyes, without any tears and lots of curiosity. We dumped the remaining turtle food into the pond and watched as the fish and turtles duked it out. It was simple, easy and painless. Nope, I can't say we will be a pet-loving family.
The point of departure. 
I will admit he was a cute lit'l fella.
Kisses goodbye to our family's first pet.
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