Emotional Attachment – Nope!

The Aunt & Uncle who raised me conspired to teach me responsibility.

How?

By giving me a calf to raise to maturity.

This meant that every day (and I do mean EVERY DAY) at 5:00 AM I trudged from our house to the barn to clean out the feeding trough, provide fresh water and grain, clean the poop, and brush every inch of that sucker!

When I got off the school bus in the afternoon, after putting my school books in my room, once again I repeated the morning routine.

Rain or shine, sick or well, no exceptions, this calf dictated my life.

The only high point was when we went to the State Fair and were awarded a red ribbon for second place.

Finally the calf was a fully mature adult.

My Aunt came to me and revealed the real reason for the calf: their plan from the beginning was to take it to slaughter and put the steaks into our freezer for our meals.

My Aunt had one concern: had I developed an emotional attachment to this calf?

My answer: “I am really going to enjoy those steaks! And don’t give me another calf to raise!!!”