R.I.P.

My biggest fears came true. All day today, Herman was 'sticking out' of his shell. This is not a normal position for him especially in the daytime...he is nocturnal you see. So, I suspected something was amiss, but ignored it by shielding my face every time I passed his home. This evening I asked my husband to take a peek. Well, just like when you pass an accident and cannot help looking even though you don't want to, I watched as he lifted the thing up and the crab's claws hung lifeless...I turned quickly and did a 'nervous tick' thing with my fingers to my temples and said..."I knew this would happen, I knew this would happen" and walked quickly away. Daddy did the dirty deed of telling Princess that Herman was old and had lived out his life (in 31 days at our house). She did not take it well, as suspected. Poor thing was so sad and asked, why, why, why? We skirted around the issue, guessed at the causes and promised that we'd give him a proper burial. She wants to wait in order to have some of her friends around. I'm sure she'll give a good show. She wants to bury his body in the ground and put his shell on top of the dirt...I will be elsewhere if/when this takes place because I do NOT want to see it out of its shell. The poor child asks why all of our animals die shortly after we get them, 2 fish and now the crab. I have no answers except that maybe I 'will them' dead because I really don't appreciate them. They freak me out (live animals that are likely to die sooner than later). Anyway, I'm not sure dogs should be part of our family if in fact we DO have a curse of some sort. All this evening the song from Oklahoma is playing in my head "Poor Judd is dead, poor Judd Frye is dead". I keep checking myself to ensure I don't sing it out loud because Princess definitely knows the song and will know why I'm singing it. By the way, Herman was about a $47 investment, divided by the days he lived at our house...he cost approximately $1.41 a day. I heard Devin ask if she could get a turtle next....Aye Ca rumba!

Note: the picture attached is from last year at Princess' field trip to see the tide pools. It is NOT Herman in her hands (ewwww).