Dear Ecko,
I remember picking you up at the pet store on May 2nd, 2008. You were sleeping on a rock and I thought you were so thin and tiny I wasn’t expecting you to live more than a week. But six years have gone by and you’ve outlived what I had ever hoped.
No one besides you knows the reason why I wanted you in the first place… It was during a time when I thought my parents were going to split up when my mom left my dad and I. My parents didn’t think I knew, but I knew what was going on. We were walking by the pet store and I wanted to go inside to look at the animals to cheer me up. I found you sleeping on a rock, separated from the other geckos and asked if I could take you home and my dad said he’d think about it. My mom still said she didn’t want to come home and my dad knew I was freaking out. The next day we picked you up without telling my mom, and for a couple of days it was just you and I. When my mom did come back, I told her we got a gecko and even though I knew she wouldn’t approve, she let me keep you anyways and we were a family again.
That’s why I remember the date I got you.
Even though it took a while for my mom to start getting used to you, in the end my mom fell in love with having you as a pet. We’d let you run across our floor, hold you in our hands, and make fun of how much your tail would wiggle side to side like a cat. When I left for college and my dad would ‘ve off at work, you’d keep my mom company. She’d call me tell me how you were doing, how many crickets you had to eat that night, or how well behaved you were when she’d hold you and watch TV.
I know you were only a gecko, but you seemed to understand things around you. You trusted me and would only eat off my hand. My mom and dad would never feed you and it always had to be me. You let me rip the skin off you while you were shedding and you let me bathe you and clip your nails. You’d react to my voice and look up at my mom when you heard me over the phone. When I would come back home for break, you would be inside your rock asleep but would know when I was home.
When I got you, you were so thin I didn’t thnk you’d make it, but you ended up being the fastest gecko ever! Your tail got really heavy and my mom and dad would joke how I feed you too much and tell you that you needed to lose weight. But these past few months I got more calls from my mom telling me how you weren’t eating and were getting really skinny… I didn’t believe how skinny you were actually getting until I came back in the spring… I could see your bones and your tail was super thin… You even stopped taking food from me…
I knew you probably didn’t have much longer to live, so I played with you everyday I was back home. I started taking more pictures because I knew one day you’d be gone. Each time I put you back in your tank before leaving back to school I’d think that it was my last time playing with you… Each time I come back and see you, a part of me hopes the next time I leave won’t be the last.
I thought about you and mom yesterday, so I called to see how everything was going and that she was just playing with you. She told me how much skinnier you were than last time… She told me she could hear me because you looked up. Literally later that night my dad sent me the last picture of you… You were super thin and it was hard to look at, so I told him to take you to the vet…
I got a call today… My mom and dad didn’t beat the bush and told me straight up. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, and I always tried to prepare myself for the call… You were awake and fine this morning and my dad was going to take you to the vet today when he got home from work. When he did get home, he wanted to hold you for a bit… He told me you were still breathing and then you started taking your last breaths until you finally died in his hands. It was like you were waiting for my mom and dad to play with you one last time and to hear my voice, even if it had to be on the phone, one last time…
You were such a well behaved gecko and I couldn’t have asked for a better one. We’ve been together since 8th grade and I was hoping you’d see me past college. I’m sorry I had to leave you while I went to school, but I know whenever my dad goes off to work, my mom is going to miss your company the most. Thank you for making her feel like she wasn’t home alone. And thank you for being a part of my family.
We’ve gotten so attached to you, my parents are making a memorial for you in our backyard right now. My dad is sending me pictures of it all and it sucks I can’t be there to let you go one last time. But I told him to leave your tank right where it is so I can clean it myself when I do come home. I was the one to set it up for you, and I want to be the one to turn off your light and put everything away. You were never meant to be in a tank, but now you’re finally free to wander and explore. Rest in paradise, Ecko.
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