Free At Last!

It all started with a sweet little boy who loved animals. Big, small, you name it, he loved it. His name was Cooper.  The problem was, this little boy had a mother who did NOT love animals. Big ones, small ones, the only way they were getting into her house was in a book. Fast forward to Labor Day weekend, camping with church friends at Camp Mishawana. Mama and sweet little Cooper are swimming in the lake, when Mama makes her first mistake. "Look, Cooper, a tiny turtle!!" This began a love affair, a boy and his turtle. He scooped it up and put it in a bucket. 

Within moments he was a celebrity among the throngs of children. "Can I see your turtle?" "Can I hold him?" "What's his name?" Poisy. Don't ask me. First thing out of his mouth. So Cooper and Poisy spent the weekend together. It is a miracle that he made it through all of the "love" he received those first days. When it was time to pack up, Cooper turned those big blue eyes to daddy (he knew better than to come to Mama) and asked if he could take him home. Overcome by a moment of weakness (didn't we have a no pet policy in place??), sleep-deprived and ready to go, Cooper hit the jackpot. "Yes". And off he went. Mind you, who held that turtle in a tupperware all the way home? Mama. In the midst of unpacking and getting ready to start the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL in the morning, we had to make a trip to Meijer for turtle food. 

Poisy survived, though I would hardly say, thrived in his tupperware (later turned fishbowl- thanks Katie).

 We fed him and changed his water. We looked at him and talked to him. But Poisy was lonely. :( He looked sad all of the time, despite the three ring circus all around him, just outside his bowl. He was a prisoner in our house, when he longed to be in the wild. We started leaving hints to Cooper that maybe we should set Poisy free. Honestly, we were waiting for him just to die of boredom. But he hung on. We even left him for a week and went on vacation without him. (I know, we didn't take him?! Don't report us to PETA!) We came back, Mama and Dad hoping Poisy had bit the dust, but there he was to greet us. Finally, we had enough of his sad stares. We told Cooper it was time. So last evening, Cooper made a hard choice. He chose to love Poisy enough to set him free in the creek by our house. So Dad took all 4 boys on a life lesson journey. They set Poisy free. I think from my house I could hear an echo of Poisy's song as he crawled into the water, "Free at Last! Free at Last! Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last!". And then a fish swam by and ate him. Just kidding. 

We're just hoping the old adage doesn't ring true, "If you love something, set it free, and if it comes back to you, it's yours to keep." I'm not too worried, by the time little Poisy made it back to 4730 Millhaven Dr., we'll probably be in Kenya. :)