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On Your Table Blog

January 23, 2023

The circle of life

The circle of life

By Chelsey Erdmann

There was doubt and it had me wavering.

Yesterday morning we found a dead calf in the lot.

The vet was on her way to perform the necropsy while I was weighing my options.

A. Take the kids. Give them a live anatomy plus many life lessons all in one.

B. Shield their young eyes. Were they ready to see this process? Would I be able to guide them through the nuance of this action on an animal?

I almost wavered. Almost stepped off course in an effort to preserve their youthful innocence.

Luckily, the desire to involve them in this life as it comes at us won.

It. Was. Incredible.

What are the chances that this calf had cancer?!

Not only did we have the most amazing anatomy lesson, but we also had the privilege of seeing a rarity.

We saw, firsthand, beautiful healthy lungs, an enlarged heart, tumors, blood clots, and an affected spleen.

Oh this life is a gift!

A gift to play on the same team as a talented vet who takes the time to explain, with sincere intent, to children as she works.

A gift to know that partaking in this lesson was the right choice. Listening to Kade and Karsyn’s questions then engaging in dialogue with them later reaffirmed why the effort to include them is worth the work.

I was squirmish, as always, but it was the best encounter I’ve ever had with internal organs. I’m only sad I couldn’t bottle how the magic of learning through experience felt in those moments.

It was one of those full circle moments. These kids have worked to preserve life starting at birth, they’ve witnessed death after we’ve tried to save it and when it’s been sudden, plus everything it takes in between. Then today they got to see the internal workings of what exactly sustains life.

Seeing the world through a child’s eyes is a magic I never expected and one I’ll never forget.

This post first appeared on Chelsey's Oh That's Chelsey social media pages. Chelsey is the District 5 representative on the NDFB Promotion and Education Committee.