Lazarus

Many of you know that I have a little bit of a fish fetish. I love aquariums and own 2. It all began long ago when our family would have a weekly "Grandma Day". On Grandma Day, my mom, grandma, my siblings and I would all go shopping, or go eat Taco Bell at a park, or just hang out at my grandma's and watch little video clips my grandma had recorded from the TV (Jules, remember all the Rescue 911's we watched?). Occasionally, we'd go to a gardening store called Western Gardens. The times we'd go there were my favorite of Grandma Day's. My mom and grandma would browse around for some flowers for their gardens and leave me and my siblings to wander around. I inevitably ended up with my face pressed against the glass of the aquariums. I distinctly remember putting my sisters on lookout while I stealthily collected enough change out of the fountains there to buy myself a few fish while my mom and grandma were preoccupied with their flower selecting. Fearing that my mom wouldn't let me have them, I believe I managed to put them in the car without my her knowing. I "borrowed" one of my mom's glass salad bowls to house them, but was discovered when my mom had company and went looking for the bowl. I fessed up. Actually, to be honest, I can't really remember how much my mom did or didn't know about the whole situation, I'll have to ask her. The point is, my fish fetish began at a very young age.

In June of 2002, Elizabeth Smart, as many of you may remember, was kidnapped. Elizabeth was a friend of my little sister, and lived only a mile or so away from our house. Our stake put on a huge garage sale to try and raise funds for her search and rescue. It was at that garage sale where I happened upon my first aquarium. The 15 gallon aquarium, gravel, filter, air pump, decorative plastic plants and rocks, a stand, a hood with a working florescent light, a siphon and even food was included for a total cost of $25. All my childhood dreams and wishes were coming true!!! Yes, I was nearly 20 years old, but still young enough to get ridiculously excited about my great find.

Since then, I've almost always had a pet fish. I was quite a good caretaker of fish. Julia managed to kill all of them off while I was on my mission, but a year and a half is a long time to take care of fish you don't love. Since I've been married, my aquarist skills have gotten worse. Matt and I have probably killed nearly 50 fish in our year and a half of marriage. I do honestly believe that in Provo, there was something wrong with our water. We eliminated every other variable. We did everything we could to treat the water, but our fish just kept dying. Since that experience, I've been a little more cautious about my fish purchases. When we came to Texas, I bought a calico fantail and just a regular old 25 cent goldfish. The 25 cent-er lasted 4 months or so which is pretty much all you can expect generally for the cheapies. The fantail has lasted now about 9 or 10 months. He even lasted despite the fact that we were only there to feed him on the weekends when we were back and forth between Beaumont.

Since we've been back from Beaumont, I had the itch again to buy him a tank-mate. I went to PetSmart a week ago and bought a beautiful Black Moore with big googly eyes. I was so delighted. I noticed that the new fish wasn't swimming very well from the get go but just chalked it up to him adjusting to his new climate. The next day he had a white spot on his dorsal fin. The day after that, the white spot took over his entire dorsal fin and he was just hanging out at the bottom of the tank. Not a good sign. I noticed that my fantail also had a white fluffy spot on his tail. On day three, the Black Moore's dorsal fin was almost completely deteriorated and the fantail's tail was disintegrating quickly. I knew something was awry. I went to PetSmart again and bought some anti-fungal/bacterial medicine for the poor fishies. It was too late for the Black Moore. The fungus spread like wildfire all over his body and he died after only having him for a few days. The fantail seemed to be swimming around OK but soon thereafter he was spending more and more time resting at the bottom. I thought he was doomed.

I went to PetSmart for the third time and explained the whole situation to one of the workers and how the diseased fish I bought there was already dead and it was going to kill my buddy that had lasted 10 months. I asked if there was a faster acting medicine. The guy obviously didn't understand my attachment to this fish. I don't think I really did either. He looked at it from a financial stand point and asked me how much the fish cost....5 or 10 dollars. He kinda suggested in not so many words to just let him die and start over with new fish instead of continuing to spend money on medicine. I could see his point, but I just had to try one more medicine. I said "Thanks for your help" as nicely as I could, but disregarded his advice and searched diligently through the medicines. I found one that only required one dose instead of several over a week. I put the medicine in and crossed my fingers.

Matt is a good husband. He tries to care about what I care about. I would make him look at the fish and give him updates on what I found out after researching what kind of disease it might be. He's very good at humoring me and listening intently although I know that deep down he thinks his wife is a little crazy. The day after I gave the fantail the new medicine, he was still not looking so hot. I was really kinda sad. I felt awful that I had introduced a diseased fish into his home when he was doing just fine and had a happy life without a tank-mate. I don't usually pray over my fish, but the scriptures say to pray about everything, don't they? So that night during our nightly prayer, I prayed that my fish would get better. I didn't open my eyes, but I knew that Matt was grinning. I kind of chuckled too as I said it. I know it's dumb...but why not try a little prayer, right?

The next morning, Matt got ready for work, and I was still kind of sleeping. Matt woke me up and in a very excited tone said, "Charlotte! The fish is swimming around!". I was excited, but not enough to get out of bed. I was surprised at how excited Matt was. The next day, the fish was looking even better. Last night when Matt got home from work, I told him how well the fish was doing. Matt kind of got a little smile on his face and said, "You know what? I really think he was healed.". Matt confessed that when I had prayed for the little guy that he realized how much I cared about the fish, so Matt said an extra little prayer in his heart for the fish. I realized that that is why Matt was so excited to inform me about the improved status of the fish. It had been an answer to his prayer.

Yes, I do realize that the life or death of this fish is also not a matter of salvation or of great importance to anyone but me; but again, I really do believe that Heavenly Father cares about the silly things we care about. Maybe he got better because of the new medicine, or maybe it was because of our little prayers in his behalf, but I'm just happy he's alive and well. Matt and I decided last night that after our long relationship with the fish and his miracle of a comeback, our fantail deserved a name . Matt appropriately named him Lazarus. Lazarus...our Easter miracle!

(To whoever read this whole thing.....You're a real trooper!)