John David Charlie Spinson

I'd like to introduce you to John. Specifically, John David Charlie Spinson.

Where? Did you just say where? You mean to tell me you don't see John right there in front of your eyes? Yeah, me either, at first. But look closely. See that disgusting grub worm toward the bottom of the clay pot? That's John David Charlie Spinson. The girls found him yesterday and brought him to the house, proclaiming "We found a pet! We finally got a pet!"

Now, I realize how sad it is that I have reduced these children to adopting a grub worm, all because I refuse to have an animal in this house. If you can find a pet that doesn't require any work, doesn't smell and doesn't shed, then let me know. We already went the fish route. Twice. The first one died when Aaron cleaned out the tank and put water that was too cold in. Next time, the water was too hot and that fish bounced from side to side in the tank until he finally expired. No more fish for a while. (P.S. Don't call PETA. We aren't trying to be mean to animals.)

Anyway, I can't think of anything else that is non-disgusting (I'm trying, I really am), so they had to adopt John. They were happy. I believe the times with John were some of the happiest of their (and possibly his) lives.

Here they are after finding him and building his home. Avery can't take her eyes off of him.

Here he is, going down the slide with Avery, soon after he moved into his new home.

Here's Reese cradling him lovingly in the new home.

And then, Dad came home. Apparently, Dad doesn't understand the significance of a new pet because he just carelessly tossed it aside as we were hosing off the back porch. He actually had the nerve to dump all of the dirt out of this grape container and just hose it off with the rest of the dirt and rocks. And oh. my. gosh. You have never seen such devastation.

Reese was screaming out the door "YOU KILLED HIM, DADDY YOU KILLED HIM!!!" Avery just kept saying "Dad, you can't just throw away our pet. That's our pet. We love him." It was pandemonium for a while.

I was a bit more sympathetic than Dad was because I had been here when they first discovered and fell in love with John David. I felt bad for them. But not bad enough to skip the photo op...

Look at her. She is seriously devastated over the loss of this wonderful pet that she wouldn't even touch because he was "yucky."

Avery's photo is a bit staged. She saw me taking Reese's picture and she said "Mom, I want you to take a picture so you can see how sad I am too." So here you go...

May we all just have a moment of silence to honor John David Charlie Spinson's short, yet admirable life? Thank you.