Bolt the hermit crab Jan 2013

Little D's hermit crab died this morning.  Well, we aren't sure when exactly, because hermit crabs are not known for their lively approach to life.  It's hard to know precisely when he took his last...
Oh wait.  He just moved.  He's alive.  phew.

You know the funny thing?  When Dai came up to tell me that the crab was dead, he was crying, which surprised me a little.  But I attributed it to lack of sleep and a pretty rough day at school, leading to a general heightened state of emotion.  See, it was neither just a wetting of the eyes, nor a tantrum kind of cry.  It was a genuine heartache cry. And so of course, I cried.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't the loss of Bolt that drew out my tears, but my kids' heartache tears are directly linked to mine.   The valves are on the same spout. His tantrum tears, scraped knee tears and anger tears are not.  But woah, baby - those heartache tears.  Immediate sympathy, empathy, compassion, care, concern, tenderness, ....  get out the tissue, those are Mama tears. Spent not for a not-dead hermit crab, but for a child whose love and loss is mine.