Punchy Protagonist

 Some of this place Is how you left it Drawers full of collections Rooms full of love How dare some call them knick knacks. The collections will go You'd say it's just stuff. The colors will change You'd say you like the blue. We will make it ours It already feels like home Maybe even more than where we are But you will always be here. And if children come However they come They will be overflowing with love Like I was. We will take rides in the pasture Maybe even the cemetery and play in the creek They will know the beauty of the world. And we will make pallets in the floor for beds And eat cheese sandwiches late at night And you will always be here.

 My first show heifer was a black baldy, hand-picked by my family and I and gifted to me by my grandparents.  I named her "Domino" and she was everything a first show heifer should be. Today, her legacy lives on in our herd, bits of her sprinkled in our herd in ways I am so proud of. Domino not only quickly became the matriarch of our herd, but was known county-wide.  The school FFA teacher at the time is a long-time very close family friend, and was instrumental in getting me started in showing.  He not-so-subtly suggested that I walk Domino for about half an hour every day, which I took seriously.  At the time, we did not have a barn at our house and were keeping her at my grandparents' house in town, meaning Domino's daily walks took place on the city block, as to not disturb the other cows in the pasture and to provide us with a consistent route. As Domino lumbered around the block day after day, afternoon after afternoon, the sight of us became pretty popul...