Several weeks ago I found a gecko in the house when I picked up some dirty clothes. This caused some screaming on my part which led to Ethan becoming aware of said gecko. He wanted to catch it and, after several failed attempts on his part, he begged me to catch it (which I did). The idea was to observe the gecko for the day and then let it go in the evening. Well, he became so attached to the gecko (bonding while playing at the park and letting it take a nap with him - seriously) that when evening came, he cried and cried. I explained to him that the gecko would die if we kept it because we didn't know what to feed it. He pittifully questioned "Can't you look it up on the in-ter-net" (please hear the sobbing gasps in that last word). I am a sucker for cute and cuddly critters and although geckos don't make that list, my son does. So I looked it up. I found out what it ate. We went to Pet Smart the next day and laid down money on freeze-dried crickets (something I never expected to pay for). A few days later I found a second gecko and (God only knows why) I caught that one and put in the cage with the first. Then we went on vacation. I fully expected these critters to kick during the week we were gone (and told Ethan as much). Much to my surprise they were still alive upon our return. A few days later I caught a third gecko (there must be some kind of 12 step program for this). The original 2 he named Fox and Grayson (after twins that are his buddies). For the record, the fast one is Fox. The 3rd gecko is Carter (Fox and Grayson's younger brother of course :) The 3 geckos lived happily in there little cage until today. Today Grayson died (Ethan's determination and I'm not sure how he reached it). Ethan was sad and he cried. He took the spoon and dug the hole to bury the gecko himself. We said a little prayer of thanksgiving for the time we had with the gecko and said goodbye. And then we talked about the other two. I told him that God just hadn't made these creatures to be our pets (dogs and cats are much more suitable companions). They weren't able to hunt insects and do what God designed them to do. I asked him what he wanted to do with the 2 that were still alive, and all on his own Ethan decided to let them go. So we set Fox and Carter free this afternoon so that they may continue their adventures as geckos. Ethan learned a little bit about loss and a little bit about compassion. I got to see a creature that creeps me out in a totally new light. In the end I thank God for the chance to catch geckos with my boy, it's what makes life interesting :)
