Mine was 14 years ago. I remember it like it was today. We were gathered at my Mom's for dinner when the phone rang. It was a friend who owned the property where we kept our 9 year old daughter's 3 cows. Her heifer was having problems calving and we needed to get out there fast. We left immediately. When we got there, the calf was dead, hanging halfway out of the heifer. I was worried about the heifer and the effect of losing such a fine calf on my young daughter. The vet got there right after we did. The vet and my DH got right to work. We tried to pull the calf with a come along, but the calf wouldn't come along. Next we tried pulling the calf with the tractor, but all that did was drag the heifer. That calf was STUCK! Finally the vet pulled a diamond wire saw. In an effort to save the heifer, he sawed the calf up and pulled it out in chunks. It was pretty gruesome. My daughter and 13 year old son watched intently. I was divorced from their father (because his girlfriends were ugly) and had recently remarried a wonderful man. He had no idea what he was getting himself into when he married me! Back to the heifer.......the vet worked for over an hour, sawing that calf up. He only charged $97.00 I sure wouldn't done what he did for $97 lousy bucks! He explained how the heifer might not live due to stress and shock.
My 9 year old DH had her own checking account. Child support is for the children, so make 'em pay their own bills and teach responsibility, right? My little girl wrote out the check, printing carefully and paid the vet. Then I tried to gently explain to my child that her heifer would die. It went something like this, "Honey your heifer is not going to make a good mamma. If she pulls through this, we need to take her to the sale, cause we can't keep doing this. Your heifer might not even get back up." Then steeling myself to deliver the really bad news, "Your heifer could die tonight." Sure enough, she turned her huge blue eyes to me and said, "Then what did I just waste ninety-seven bucks for? Why didn't we just shoot her to start with?"
Spoken like a true country girl.
The heifer did die that night. Our efforts to save her failed. I will never forget that Mother's Day.
My 9 year old DH had her own checking account. Child support is for the children, so make 'em pay their own bills and teach responsibility, right? My little girl wrote out the check, printing carefully and paid the vet. Then I tried to gently explain to my child that her heifer would die. It went something like this, "Honey your heifer is not going to make a good mamma. If she pulls through this, we need to take her to the sale, cause we can't keep doing this. Your heifer might not even get back up." Then steeling myself to deliver the really bad news, "Your heifer could die tonight." Sure enough, she turned her huge blue eyes to me and said, "Then what did I just waste ninety-seven bucks for? Why didn't we just shoot her to start with?"
Spoken like a true country girl.
The heifer did die that night. Our efforts to save her failed. I will never forget that Mother's Day.
