It wouldn't be Mother's Day without calves

Spring is my favorite season.  For me it represents regrowth and new life.  The world comes alive in the Spring and I anxiously anticipate its return every year.  I love it when the Spring flowers begin to bloom and when the first new leaves begin to reappear on the trees, turning all of those empty branches into a lush green tunnel as I drive down the street toward home.  But I think my favorite part of Spring is when the new babies begin to be born.

I remember when Nicol was younger and we made our daily drive through the MSU farmlands just outside of campus on her way to school.  When this time of year arrived, Nicol would excitedly anticipate the arrival of the new calves and foals that we would see on our daily drive.   I have to admit that I always loved seeing them too.  There is just something special about new life.

Robin, Brezlyn, Mark, Sidnee, Mason and Nicol checking out the cows

I think calves are pretty cute, but I don't love them nearly as much as Nicol does.  She was pretty excited to get to my grandparents today to see if there were any new calves that had been born this Spring.  It seems that there are always a few there every Mother's Day.  No luck with calves at Grandpa and Grandma's today, but we were excited to learn that a brand new baby had been born today, just down the road at my Uncle Charles' house.  So when chore time arrived, I climbed onto the golf cart with my grandpa and Brezlyn while Mason jumped in the car with Nicol to head down to see the new babies.

To date, 17 new calves have been born at Charles' farm this year.  The barnyard was full of new life. Adorable, curious calves with their protective mama cows always hovering close by.  And my baby was in heaven.

But today, my focus was on one special mom and her tough day.  There was one poor mama who had given birth to twins today.  One of her calves had been stillborn and the other hadn't stood up yet.  It was a few hours old and should have been standing by this point. She stood close to him, nudging him with her nose, and gently licking him.  She was trying to keep the others away from him and would never go more than a few feet away.  When she did move away, he would cry out for her and she would run to his side.  The reality of nature, the real world of life and death, was playing out before my eyes.  

That poor helpless mama.  My heart just broke for her. She was not really any different than me, just wanting to protect and care for her baby.  It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen.  My uncle was preparing some milk for the calf and was planning to try to feed him to see if that would give him the strength to stand and, hopefully, to live. I don't know the end of the story...I'm not sure if the calf made it.  And I don't know if I want to know.  But I do know that his life, no matter how short, made an impact on me.  And I realized that mama cow and I were kindred spirits, sharing a love for our children.  I also realized that every day there are mom's out there-both human and animal-struggling with situations just like this. I can't even begin to imagine their pain.  

So today I am even more thankful for the greatest gift I was ever given.  I am so grateful for my beautiful child who, like her mother, doesn't like to have her picture taken.  But I don't need to see her beautiful face to know the beauty that is in her heart or to know how much I love her.  

And in the end, the promise of Spring and new life holds true as these other calves grow and learn and continue the circle of life.