in memoriam

Every morning we would go into the laundry room and pronounce him… dead. He was all wrinkly, displayed an odd color and had not changed position for days. Definitely dead.

And then he would move his leg!

OK, not completely gone. But surely tomorrow we’ll have a funeral for Hopper.

Next morning, after being pronounced dead once more… he would move his limbs – ever so slightly – but enough that we feared burying him alive. This routine continued for about 2 weeks and finally we could handle the stress of being frog-hospice no longer.

So Scott and the boys took Hopper to the creek to relieve him of his misery: he was released in hopes that he would become a delicious turtle or snake dinner. (OK, that does not sound like a gift to him, but it would at least be to some animal.) On release he mustered some energy and moved deliberately towards the water. There he sat. There Scott and the boys sat...

Finally Scott initiated a “Good Bye Hopper…” The boys echoed “Good Bye, Hopper.”
The boys repeated: “Good Bye, Hopper.”
"Good Bye Hopper..."
"Good Bye Hopper..."
"Good Bye Hopper..."
And again… and once more… until Scott at last pulled them away. Neels kept looking over his shoulder: “Good Bye, Hopper...”

For at least 2 weeks now we have continued to hear prayers for Jesus to protect Hopper “since we had to leave him at the creek - all alone.” Well, I’m sure he was not alone too awfully long. Though he might not have received any offers for friendship, our hope is that grace manifested itself in his life by him becoming an opportunity for a hungry creek creature to “say grace." For when it is all said and done, it is dust to dust… or (respectfully) frog to foodchain!