"Daddy, Daddy...what are you doing now?" Borus rushed, running over to where is Daddy was standing in the field.
"Well, I'm checking on the herd," Big Al calmly replied, his deep voice resonating in the prairie wind.
"Oh, I see, well I guess not, or maybe, well, Daddy I have a question." Borus said his words tripping over one another, his head waving from side to side in apprehension.
"Yes son, you know you can ask me anything." Big Al replied, continuing his gaze on the herd.
"Well, when am I going to be big and strong like you Daddy?" Borus said, the question in his eyes telling more of the story. "Well Lewis and Tini said that you are the biggest and strongest bull this farm has ever seen, and when will I grow up to be big like you?"
Big Al looked down at his son, his little hooves shaking in the ground and the big calf eyes looking back up at him. How he looks like me when I was his age, he thought to himself.
"Well being the biggest or the strongest isn't what's important Borus" Big Al replied.
"Well then what is?" Borus asked confused at what his Daddy was saying.
"You go and ask your Momma and her friends, they will tell you," Big Al said scooting his son towards the group of cows in the sun.
"Auntie Clarice, Auntie Clarice!" Borus said excitedly, "What makes Daddy, I mean Big Al, so important?"
"Oh sweetie, that's easy, he looks after each one of us, keeping us all safe." Clarice said nodding in the warm sunshine.
Borus walked away, shaking his head, he really didn't expect that answer. Maybe Auntie Myrtle and Louise would say something else.
"Auntie Myrtle, Auntie Louise!" Borus said.
"Well hello Borus" they said together, their black kind faces looking towards him.
"What makes Daddy, Big Al, so important?" Borus said gazing at each face.
"He's the hardest working bull we've ever had here." Louise responded.
"Oh yes, he's the first one to rise and the last one to go to bed," Myrtle nodded in quick reply.
Borus walked away, and thought Momma will say that he's the biggest and best.
"Momma, Momma, what makes Daddy so important?"
"Oh son, your Daddy is the kindest bull I've ever known, he loves us all with his whole heart." Borus' Momma said, her dark almond eyes glistening in the afternoon rays.
Borus walked away, and thought, I'll ask Auntie Gertie, she must say something about being big and strong.
"Auntie Gertie, Auntie Gertie, what makes Big Al so important?" Borus looked up at the white and black face smiling down on him.
"Oh Big Al, he's important because he thinks of everyone else first, then himself. I've seen him eat last, just so you and all your friends could eat." Gertie replied, smiling to herself.
Borus sauntered off to where his Daddy was standing, thinking about all what he had heard.
"So what did you learn today son?" Big Al asked.
"Well no one said that what made you important was that you were big and strong, they all said you were important because of...." Borus stopped, thinking in his head, "its because of what's on the inside Daddy--that's what makes you important!"
Big Al looked down on his son, the pride of watching a child learn something showing in his big square face.
"So I've changed my mind Daddy." Borus stated abruptly, his hoof stomping the ground.
"I don't want to be big and strong anymore Daddy, I want to be just like you."
Fabulous, touching and true. You have a gift. Don't hide it under a bushel.
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