4-year-old Everett loved his little goldfish named Nemo very, very much.
But sometimes, too much love – or, more accurately, a lack of knowledge – is a bad thing, and it, sadly, took Nemo’s life.
One night, Tori Malin, Everett’s mom, came into his bedroom to check on him in their Georgia home. What she saw absolutely shocked her.
Little Everett was fast asleep, as he should be – but he was cuddling his poor fish Nemo next to him.
Tori Hamlin / Facebook
Tori knew Everett did not do this out of malice, but out of a lot of love and an unsureness of how to show it.
She knew she could turn this into a positive teaching moment, so she and her husband Corey woke their son up and told him that Nemo had passed away.
Tori Hamlin / Facebook
Everett was heartbroken as his parents tried very hard to clearly explain to him why his cute, innocent action had ended up causing a tragedy.
He explained that all he wanted to do was pet Nemo and snuggle with him.
Though in hindsight, it’s an amusing thought, it was sad and heartbreaking for his parents to hear, as Everett had no understanding of his actions.
Tori Hamlin / Facebook
Of course, one might wonder how Everett managed to catch Nemo in the first place.
Tori suggests it may be because Nemo was very used to seeing Everett by his tank in the boy’s bedroom, and Everett has always showered Nemo with love.
He found the fish fascinating and would watch him swim around.
Everett even tried to choose “furniture” to make Nemo’s aquarium feel even more homey, including colored lights over the top of the lid.
Tori Hamlin / Facebook
That evening of the incident, Tori and Corey heard a noise from Everett’s bedroom after reading him his bedtime story and called him to them to ask what happened.
Their son said it was nothing, so they let him go back to sleep.
After a while, Tori went over to check on her son and saw that his chair, usually resting somewhere else, had been moved to stand next to the dresser where Nemo’s tank was.
Tori Hamlin / Facebook
That’s when Tori noticed that the colored lights usually resting on the tank were inside the water, and the tank’s lid was gone. Nemo wasn’t anywhere to be seen, either.
She called her husband in and it wasn’t long before they noticed that Everett was holding the now dead body of Nemo in his hand as he slept.
Tori Hamlin / Facebook
Everett was very upset when he was told his actions killed his beloved fish.
Luckily, he was a little better in the morning and explained that he didn’t want to hurt Nemo, only cuddle him.
He hadn’t realized that fish couldn’t live outside of water.
Tori, a stay-at-home mother, patiently told him it was okay and explained how fish have to live to him again until he understood.
At last, Everett reached the right conclusion.
If his parents bought him a new fish, he would not touch it, or any other live fish, unless they were fishing. He had the right idea!
Everett now has a gift card so he can go choose a new fish at the pet store, and now he’ll be better equipped to look after it and give it the right kind of love.