METROWEST DAILY NEWS
In America: The zen of Emily
By Miryam Wiley
Saturday, April 5, 2003
Emily the cow died last weekend, but her spirit lives. She was a source
of inspiration to this mother of a child with special needs. The same
way the bigger challenges come from the outside world rather than
everyday life at home, truly meaningful content arises from listening
to a repetitive sentence that seemed meaningless at first.
It took me a while to tune in to Emily, the cow who jumped over a
fence and escaped the slaughterhouse seven years ago. After weeks
of hiding in the woods of Hopkinton, she was taken in (and paid for)
by Lewis and Meg Randa of the Peace Abbey in Sherborn.
For one year now -- ever since my daughter Katherine started attending
the Life Experience School of the Peace Abbey -- news of people and
animals alike became the norm in our conversations.
Emily provided entertainment and love, a presence that left everyone
around in a cheerful mood. Recently, however, the news had turned
to sadness.
"Emily is sick," Katherine told us one day. And then we learned Emily
would possibly get chemotherapy, a choice eventually dropped to avoid
the difficult side effects.
Still, Emily did not leave our thoughts. At breakfast and dinner,
we often heard of visits to the Abbey and interactions with the famous
cow or the news of how difficult things were for her.
Then, last Sunday, Emily died. And to my surprise, I was left with
deep sadness.
The first day it was just sad news. Then it sank in and it got worse
when Katherine let out a deep cry one night.
I feel like I've lost Emily the same way I felt I lost Mr. Rogers
a few weeks ago. Like him, Emily was a barometer of all things good.
The special kids at my daughter's school understood, in their own
way, that Emily lived to prove a point. Emily was symbolic of a struggling
creature that had a lot of dignity to pass on to others. Near her,
many made a quiet and caring choice.
"People came to meet Emily and were amazed to find that she was extremely
interested in them," said Meg Randa. "She was very affectionate and
displayed the same kind of personality and intelligence as, perhaps,
their dog. One would never consider eating their dog so, perhaps,
the connection was made that eating an animal was no longer acceptable
to them."
If all people didn't become vegetarians because of Emily, they knew
they had in her a good reason to consider it. I have been there and
back long before Emily was around. I succumbed to a carnivorous lifestyle
while eating on the road as a TV reporter in Brazil. But I know the
bounty of nature and I feel I must reconsider.
For this whole past year, whenever we met new people and Katherine
was asked the name of the school she attended, she often said, beyond
the name: "The place where the famous cow lives. Don't you know about
Emily the cow?"
I saw more than one person look pretty terrified of being misinformed.
The conversations started to flow when others saw Katherine had no
trouble with this topic, and details about how the cow escaped the
slaughterhouse and what a special cow this was!
As inattentive as I might have been, I now know better than to dismiss
the importance of Emily.
In conversations with pacifist Lewis Randa about the state of the
world in recent weeks, Emily seemed to be part of the talk here and
there. Even, one time: "The Metrowest Daily News loves Emily!" he
said.
Looking at the book of Emily clippings that goes back to 1995, I can
see this paper did, in fact, give Emily a lot of press time, despite
some critics who didn't spare the readers their view of the ridiculous
"moo-vement."
In my house, the spirit of Emily lives. And despite the fact that
I was not one who paid her a visit or got one of her famous cowlicks,
I have realized I must tune in.
"Emily was more than just a cow," said Lewis Randa. "She was, for
people who loved her, an important creature who put them in touch
with a greater understanding of animals and how humans should treat
them. Her eyes would melt your heart and make you appreciate what
animals have to offer."
I think she was so inclusive that she made a difference in humans'
appreciation of each other as well.
"We must learn that animals are thinking, feeling creatures with the
same will to live that any other creature possesses," said Meg Randa.
"She was an ambassador for all animals and her life and story is a
testimony to the fact that all life is sacred."
To reach Miryam Wiley, e-mail inamericacolumn@yahoo.com or write to
33 New York Ave., Framingham, MA 01702
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