RIP, Courtney Jr.

R.I.P.

Courtney, Jr., 11/6/13-11/17/13*

Dear Readers, it is with a heavy heart that I come to you today. Courtney, Jr. has passed. You may remember Courtney, Jr. as Mabel, Jr., the fish who starred in my popular Pinterest-inspired post from a week and a half ago. Upon moving Mabel, Jr. to my office, I realized that I had not given the poor fish the best possible namesake and role model, so I changed his name to honor my favorite co-worker and former Matron of Honor, Courtney. It seems that I changed his name too late, however, and Courtney, Jr. quietly left this world sometime this past weekend, just days after the expiration of his seven-day guarantee. It goes without saying, of course, that I do not care about the money.

Courtney, Jr. joins a venerable brother- and sisterhood of my dearly departed pets in that great farm in the sky: Barney, Sage of the Bluegrass; CleoCatra [whom I must assume is dead since she "ran away" when my family went on vacation]; Miss Velvet, best dog ever; Kozmo, the original cool cat with a trendy spelling; Where's Waldo; Pat the Turtle and the original Blue Fish, just to name a few. Blue Fish was my first Betta, a replacement pet that my mom bought me after she killed my first batch of pet fish by putting them in a bowl of hot water "because they looked so cold." Blue Fish was, of course, completely outclassed by Courtney, Jr., may they both rest in peace.

It seemed that Courtney, Jr. was in poor health on Friday, when he seemed to suffer a stroke, jumped out of his water and back into the bowl, then floated for fifteen minutes or so whilst sadly fluttering one flipper. He ate a last meal of fish pellets, and revived a little when Courtney, Sr. visited my office to discuss the Blackfish movie. [By the way, I haven't seen the movie but it sounds like we should all boycott Seaworld.] When I left the office Friday evening, Courtney, Jr. was resting peacefully.

Courtney, Jr. was honored in a private toilet-side ceremony yesterday on the 15th Floor. The ceremony was quiet and tasteful, just like Courtney, Jr. Hymns were sung and a eulogy given. In lieu of flowers, please become a "follower" of my blog. It's what Courtney, Jr. would have wanted.


* Technically, Courtney died on November 18. I had stopped by the office on Sunday night and declared him dead, but then when I came into work on Monday morning, he was swimming around again! It was truly a workplace miracle. Sadly, the miracle didn't last, and he died again Monday afternoon.