A good investment

I have a giant goldfish who lives in an aquarium in my office. My eldest granddaughter and I bought her at the local pet store. My granddaughter was about one at the time, she is now seven – which means this goldfish is now a senior.

The fish was tiny when we bought it — we had a hard time keeping our eyes on the chosen one as the sales clerk swished a net through the large school darting around the goldfish display. We had selected one with a single white spot, the prettiest one in the tank. I’m not sure our chosen one was the fish who was finally bagged, but we were thrilled with our decision and immediately named our new finned friend Dorothy (I should point out that the name selection was left up to the one-year-old — her pal Elmo, on Sesame Street, had a goldfish named Dorothy too).

Dorothy had been destined to be someone’s lunch, she was sold as a feeder fish. She wore a thirty-nine cent price tag. I suppose a thirty-nine cent lunch wasn’t quite the same deal for the owner of the luncher that it was for us making our one-time purchase, but we were more than pleased with our bargain.

Dorothy came home to Gramma’s house to live in a twenty gallon fish tank. She got her own light and filtration system and a lot of love. All three of our granddaughters have showered Dorothy with affection and pinches of food since she moved in. Dorothy is one well-fed feeder-fish.

I’m fairly certain that Dorothy’s schoolmates all met an untimely end – feeder-fish aren’t designated such because they are healthy – they are generally the weaker fish, the malformed and small ones. Dorothy won a lottery the day our little girl chose her to feed – and she continues to be the luckiest fish of her school – she got to be the top of her class, the one voted most likely not to be eaten.

Our little girls aren’t as interested in Dorothy as they used to be – iPads, iTunes, and I-want-to-bake-with-Gramma are all the rage these days. I’m not sure Dorothy actually misses the girls as much as she misses her random snacks. She seems genuinely happy to see a little hand appear at the top of the tank regardless of how neglected she’s been and the girls are certain they are still loved and have been missed.

I love Dorothy — she has become portly and pale over the years and has eaten more than her weight in fish flakes in the process. She can still turn a circle in the tank but I’ve had to remove her plastic plant and fancy sunken treasure chest to give her room to maneuver.  Some people might think I’m crazy, but I think Dorothy loves me back -she definitely recognizes the hand that feeds her.  This golden beauty has been the best thirty-nine cent investment I have ever made.  She would have been a bargain at twice the price.