Saying Goodbye to Yee Yee: In February we had to say goodbye one of our cows, Yee Yee. She was very special to us. Yee Yee was Daisy’s first calf. Her original name was Lilly. My nephew couldn’t say Lilly, instead, he pointed his finger at her one day and said “Dat my Yee Yee!” It stuck.

Yee Yee’s Life:

She was Alex’s first bred and owned cow. She and her health issues were what gave Alex her determination to become a veterinarian. Yee Yee was born via breech delivery with the help of Dr. Bill Hester, Alex, my mother-in-law and I. She was not breathing when she was born. Furthermore, she had contracted tendons and couldn’t stand on her own for her first 4 days.

As a result, Alex spent lots of time with her, milking Daisy and bottle feeding her. In addition, flexing her tendons and holding her up, trying to get her to stand. When Yee was a few months old, we noticed she had some drainage from her umbilicus. We loaded her in the trailer and took her to Dr. Knape for a minor surgical repair. However, several months later, she developed a cheesy, pus tinged drainage. We took her to Texas A&M and they performed surgery on her. Next, she had a softball sized abcess in her abdomen which ruptured during surgery, and when they tried to close her, she didn’t have enough muscle wall. As a result, she had a mesh implant. The implant was longer than she was.

Yee Yee was the heifer of choice at all the shows for the Pee Wee showmanship, even as a calf. She would go out there and show like a champ even for the smallest kids. Subsequently, Yee Yee was even shown a few times by some physically challenged kiddos. She would literally run to the trailer and load herself up so she could go to a show. Likewise, she was always the first one to the feed trough. Certainly, she loved getting petted and loved on.

In her last month of life, we could see she was getting tired and her time was coming. Above all, the last thing we wanted for her was for her to suffer. She was Alex’s and when it was her time, Alex came home and we all said our goodbyes with tear filled eyes.

In conclusion, Alex was the first face she saw when she came into this world, and Alex felt it fitting that she be the last face to see when she left. RIP, Star A Miss Atlas, Yee Yee. We loved you, and, moreover, will miss you for eternity. Thank you for all you taught us. Most importantly, for giving Alex the determination to pursue a career she didn’t even know she wanted to pursue.