Mighty by Zoe

      A young seven year old girl sat in the back of a big van, writing furiously on a little yellow note pad. Every now and then she would stop and rap her chin with her pencil as she pondered her next sentence. This little girl was writing a list of interview questions to ask her grandfather. The subject of the interview was his experience in the 4-H program.The little girl was me.
    Well, after the day of the interview, a short time passed before I decided to join the local 4-H club and show a calf of my own. I planned on showing a heifer, but God had other plans. An adorable bull calf not much bigger than myself, soon became my friend, and I named him Mighty. For history's sake, let me just say that Mighty was not perfect. He did have a few tantrums, and he did ignore me once or twice. However, Mighty and I developed a bond that grew stronger every day. I truly believe that Mighty was one of the few animals who had ever loved me.
     I showed Mighty for the first time at the Pike County fair. Mighty and I won first place
showmanship in our class, and grand champion bull. I couldn't believe that we had done so well!
    After a month more of practice and hard work, Mighty and I took our show on the road to the Mississippi State Fair. I was so nervous! As I walked into the show ring,  I could hardly think about what I was doing. If Mighty hadn't known what to do, the whole show would have been a flop. The judge started placing the other bulls in Mighty's class until it was just Mighty and one other bull. For the next few seconds I couldn't believe what was happening. Mighty was placed first, and I was so happy and excited! We even had a run for grand champion.
      A week after the State Fair, Mighty got sick. My grandfather said that the vet thought Mighty had an ulcer. On October 12th my whole family spent the day at the farm with Mighty. We took off his halter and removed his nose ring. I could tell that he was in pain. He followed me around for a few steps simply because he loved me. Before we left that night, we all told Mighty how wonderful he was and how much we loved him. I kissed him and told him that he was wonderful and that I loved him so much. I spent the night with my grandparents.
     The next day, Oct. 13, Columbus Day, Mighty had died. We gave him a little burial ceremony a few feet from the spot where, a year before, a seven year old girl met a curious little bull named Mighty.
     Mighty died six years ago today. In honor of the day that Mighty died, we named our next show bull Columbus. I also showed Mighty's little brother, and last year, his little sister. I truly cherish the time I had with Mighty and the memories that we have of our first year in 4-H. I truly believe that if Mighty had not been as wonderful as he was, I probably wouldn't still be in the 4-H.