Noel was our goldfish.  Actually, technically speaking, he was Amanda’s ‘betta’ fish.  Lolo gave him to her in our Secret Santa gift exchange this year, but he sort of became our mascot.   Perhaps Noel’s image wasn’t plastered all over 70’s teenage boys’ bedrooms, like Farah’s… and God knows he certainly wasn’t the King of Pop either…  But he will be greatly missed nonetheless, and deserves a moment of our time.

I’m not going to lie… we had noticed that he didn’t seem super psyched lately… and he was starting to look a little worse for wear, but we did everything we were supposed to do.  We cleaned his bowl regularly, we fed him (sometimes too much… my bad), we talked to him…   The picture above is one that Amanda sent me when I was in London in January, so clearly better times.  Noel was but a young Betta of a month and a half… (and obviously a bit cheeky because it kind of looks like Amanda is scolding him… like what could he have possibly done?  Anyhow, that’s so far besides the point now… ) Actually, truth be told, he could have been like 85… I mean, who knows how old a fish is when you buy it from a pet store?  I’m going to go out on a limb and say he wasn’t that old, because, let’s face it… fish just don’t live that long, do they?  In any case, we like to think that Noel’s little life started when he took up residence in our office. 

In the name of full disclosure, I should tell you that Noel wasn’t the first fish that we have had at Lola & Emily.  When we first opened, almost 8 years ago, we had a fish named Antoine.  He was a real goldfish (I think… ) and I LOVED him.  This was before I had Zoe.  And we used to have him in the front of the store, on the counter beside the cash, and I would chat with him… and maybe put my finger in his bowl, hoping that he would come and say hi.  And eventually he did.  And it got to the point where Antoine would swim up and rub his little back against my finger…  He seemed to love it.  Until he died and Sally told me that you aren’t supposed to “pet” fish.  Apparently “everyone” knows that.  Well, I’ll tell you what… that was a tough lesson to learn, but I learned it, and I promise you that I NEVER touched Noel… (but maybe Dave did? Ooooooh no I didn’t!?) 

Given that we did not have this forum back when we lost Antoine, and I am feeling a little sad about Noel, and all of it… a Haiku for the Fallen

Life is so short Fish   

You swim around in circles      

But touch our hearts still

R.I.P little ones…

Noel December 8th, 2008 – June 29th, 2009 and Antoine September 30th, 2001 - December 21st, 2002 (I am COMPLETELY making those dates up for Antoine.  I have no idea when we actually got him, or how long he lived, but that seems about right… give or take a month… or two)

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Animals and other cute stuff by Marnie