Miss Susie Q

My sister, Sue Lee, recently received the following correspondence in the mail:    

S&W Cattle Company

Attn:  Sue Lee

Cranfills Gap, Tx

Dear Mrs. Lee:

My name is Miss Susie Q, and I just wanted to thank you for putting me in the care of my new foster parents.  I am doing really well, but I still do not like to drink from the bottle. My new Mama mixes my dry feed with milk--that is a lot better for me.  She puts me in the barn every night where I will be safe and out of the weather.  I am starting to get rid of the "nubby" coat I have , and a shiny new one is coming on.  This gift--not near enough--(a $50 gift card)--is to show you how much I appreciate my new home, and how happy my foster Mom is to have me.  Hope you enjoy it.

Miss Susie Q

 The story behind this cute little letter is that Miss Susie Q is a super-tiny miracle of a heifer calf that is lucky to be alive. Susie Q's mother was a  cow that Sue had owned for several years--a cow who usually raised a really good calf. Susie Q was one of three calves-- triplets-- born up on the mountain on the Bosque County place that Sue leases from Lester Watkins. A cow having twin calves is fairly common, but triplets born to a cow is very unusual. 

In Susie Q's case, both her siblings died, and Susie Q wasn't able to nurse Mama Cow enough to keep her bag from drying up. With no milk to drink, little Susie Q was literally starving to death. At three months of age, Susie Q weighed only thirty pounds and was the size of a small dog. Most calves are born weighing sixty pounds or more, but Susie Q was a triplet who was born tiny and was doomed to die a slow death from starvation, since Mama Cow had no more milk for her to drink.

One day, my sister Sue walked out into the pasture, and, on foot, dropped a loop over the little calf and loaded her into the front seat of the pickup, thinking all the while, it would be a miracle if she survived.

 Sue drove straight to David and Joyce Benzenhoefers' house--the neighbors who  live directly behind Sue's place. Sue knew that Joyce was a wonderful caretaker of needy animals and was especially good with baby animals. Figuring that the tiny calf would have a fighting chance of living if under Joyce's painstaking care, Sue honked the horn. When Joyce came out, Sue said, "I've got a present for you!", and gave the little heifer to Joyce, who promptly named her "Miss Susie Q." 

And that is how a letter from Miss Susie Q came in the mail adressed to Sue Lee. Joyce and David Benzenhoefer own a trucking company based in the Gap. Joyce is a great neighbor who keeps an eye on things while Sue is out and about, checking her cattle and what not. 

  When it was Sue's birthday last June, Joyce was the neighbor who left  two pieces of cake on Sue's kitchen table. Sue and I ate the delicious cake, thinking it was from Sue's grandchildren, Tara and Krista.  However, when we called them to say, "Thank You", they said, "What cake? We haven't made our cake yet! We didn't leave you any cake!" 

At that point, Sue and I both got paranoid, thinking that the mystery cake might have been left by the despicable Superintendent Carla Sigler --who had it in for Sue and her family and who hadn't left town yet--and that Carla was trying to do us in with a piece of cake! Later, with no ill effects and still in good health, Sue and I had a good laugh when we found out the mystery cake had been left by Joyce to celebrate Sue's birthday. And, from now on, we will call around first, to find out who has left any mysterious gifts of food before we eat them!

Thanks to Joyce, it appears the story of Miss Susie Q will have a happy ending.