When I was in my early 30s, my dad had dementia. I was visiting him with my stepmom at his assisted living home. We were talking about the "old" days and I told my stepmom about the pets we had as a kid (my parents divorced when I was in college, so I didn't grow up with my stepmom). I was talking about our turtles, Yertle, Myrtle and Turtle. Yertle was a box turtle, Myrtle and Turtle were desert tortoises. My parents rescued Turtle from some punk who was drilling a hole in her back. At any rate, I was telling the story to my stepmom as my dad listened and I told her that Turtle got a turtle disease and my parents took him (her?) back to live in the desert. I caught an odd look on my dad's face - which was really odd because the dementia created lots of "odd" looks - and for some reason said to my dad "you didn't take Turtle to live in the desert, did you?" He kind of smiled and then laughed and said "no." I was in my 30s. I'd told friends in college the story. I'd told many, many people the story. No one ever said a word.
Here's a link to an article that says you shouldn't tell kids that their beloved pet went to live "on the farm." Well, I'm living proof. Don't do it. If nothing else, we'll feel like idiots when we're 32. :)
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42310680/ns/today-parenting/
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