I Am A Hero
Animal Stories from All-Creatures.org

From The Gentle Barn
March 2011

When we got to the other property, the kids very quietly walked behind me to see the baby. He was lying in the sun resting and Serenity was licking him. The kids sat down very quietly and watched the mom and baby. After a while I asked the kids if they thought the baby seemed bad, or mean, or naughty. “No,” they said with much zeal, “he is perfect!” I said, “So are each of you! You were all born perfect, beautiful and good! Your behavior is just a choice, but it is not who you are!”

The kids asked if they could help, so they helped carry a huge piece of fencing to encourage the cows to go into the enclosure without having to pick up the baby or upset the mom. Once the mom and baby were inside safe and sound we gave all the kids high fives and thanked them for helping.

This week we had a group of at-risk kids from South Central LA brought in by the Los Angeles Police Department. The kids came the same day that Serenity gave birth to her son. So, I asked the kids if they wanted to see the newborn baby, but they had to be extra quiet and still. They all said that they wanted to see the baby and that they could be quiet. So we all climbed into the police van and headed towards our other property where Serenity and most of our other cows live.

a-hero

In the van I asked the kids what word best described who they are and what was their dream. One boy said that his dream was to become a police man and that he was bad.

“Bad?” I asked. “Can you pick a different word?”

“Mean,” he said.

“Mean,” I asked “is that who you really are?”

“Well, I’m naughty,” he said.

I asked him how he was going to be a police man if he chose to act mean and naughty, and he said that you have to be mean to catch bad guys. I told him that the bad guys were mean and naughty, the police men were brave, strong, and powerful heroes. I told him that we have to find a different word for him because he was not bad!

When we got to the other property, the kids very quietly walked behind me to see the baby. He was lying in the sun resting and Serenity was licking him. The kids sat down very quietly and watched the mom and baby. After a while I asked the kids if they thought the baby seemed bad, or mean, or naughty. “No,” they said with much zeal, “he is perfect!” I said, “So are each of you! You were all born perfect, beautiful and good! Your behavior is just a choice, but it is not who you are!” I looked at the little boy who had said that he was bad and I stared right into his eyes and told him, “you are good, just like that baby cow!”

Then, our animal caretaker Aldo and our volunteer Mike came over and explained that it was time to put the mom and baby up in a stall for the night so they would be safe from coyotes. The kids asked if they could help, so they helped carry a huge piece of fencing to encourage the cows to go into the enclosure without having to pick up the baby or upset the mom. Once the mom and baby were inside safe and sound we gave all the kids high fives and thanked them for helping.

When we returned to The Gentle Barn I gave each child a silver badge and pinned it onto their shirts and told them that they were helpful, quiet, and generous, followed the rules and they kept the baby safe from predators for the night. At the wishing well, each kids wrote “I am a hero“ on a rock and cast it into the wishing well so the truth of them would always be held here safe and sound for them to remember.


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