Loss of Tampton

Lauren experienced the loss of a great friend and pet this evening.

Tampton came to live with us three weeks ago and lived in Lauren's room around the clock. Some of the time she left him in the closet, fearing that he would "bake" in the sunlight. Most of the time he lived on her shelf. I can honestly say that she didn't pay much attention to him while he was with us and you could hardly tell she was all that connected to him. But when we discovered that he had passed away this evening, she was so distraught and in tears that she couldn't be consoled.

It might surprise you to learn that Tampton, her wonderful and dear pet Tampton, was a slug. I am serious. She found him outside a few weeks ago and begged to keep him. We took a small Glad container, punched some holes in the top, added leaves and flowers for food and a small amount of water to keep him moist and he just slimed around the container. I thought he would make it a day or two, but in total he lived 3 weeks in her room. Plucky for a slug.

We had a small funeral service for Tampton in the bathroom (I explained that fish and slugs get flushed; dogs and cats get buried in the backyard), but Lauren was too emotional to stay for "The Flushing."

I am making light of this a little bit, but in truth, it served as an opportunity for Lauren to confront the idea of death and loss. I am glad we could start on a slug instead of Casey, our cat, or a family member. Kimberly and I honored the fact that she was taking it so seriously and got to talk with her about it. All on her own before bed, Lauren got a small box out of the craft supplies, colored the inside full of beautiful colors, and on the outside wrote, "dead peple we love" with a heart and one smiley face and one sad face. She told me that she is going to fill the box with the names of those that she has lost, as a remembrance. So far she is planning on putting the names of Grandma Shorty, Tampton and Grandpa Clete.

When she prayed at bedtime, she said, "Lord, I pray for Tampton and even though he probably went to slug-heaven, I hope that he went to people-heaven and is waiting with Jesus for me." I love this little girl's heart.