Last night when Andrew went to bed he informed us that his stuffed animal, Froggy Mama, was very old and ill. He said she was 112 years old with a bad heart, and that she was going to the hospital tomorrow morning. He got up this morning and took her down into the basement for her "appointment" and came upstairs for some bad news. He said "The doctor put some heart medicine in her mouth, but she spit it out and died." He carried her around for a couple of hours asking about death, wondering if she was okay. He asked whether we could scatter her ashes or float them on leaves in the water. He has memories of going to a river in India after someone died (he's been talking about it since he came home two and a half years ago). He said they had flowers and there was a lot of crying. I showed him an online video of an actual Indian cremation ceremony and he decided to do the same for Froggy Mama. He's taking it all very seriously!The benefit of doing all this seems to be that he's learning more about death and how temporary everything is (including our bodies). I explained that her spirit (the only eternal part) left her body, just like when we take our coats off. Her coat was very old and tired, so she feels much better now. He was comforted by how she looks now- "She looks so pretty and peaceful Mom." The flowers were the final touch from our yard, and after the pretend pyre is done burning he plans to scatter her ashes.
Om Namah Shivaya, Om Nama Shivaya, Om, Shanti, Amen
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