{"id":28,"date":"2018-02-13T09:46:45","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T14:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/redneck\/?post_type=chapter&p=28"},"modified":"2018-02-13T09:46:45","modified_gmt":"2018-02-13T14:46:45","slug":"billy","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/redneck\/chapter\/billy\/","title":{"raw":"Billy","rendered":"Billy"},"content":{"raw":"

Billy<\/h2>\r\nThe pastor gave two readings that Sunday morning at the Lutheran church. First he read from one of the psalms:<\/strong>\r\n
Even the sparrow finds a home,<\/em>\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and the swallow a nest for herself,<\/em>\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 where she may lay her young,<\/em>\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0at your altars, O LORD of hosts,<\/em>\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 my King and my God.<\/em><\/blockquote>\r\nHe explained how the meaning of the psalm was clear. \u201cIf the Lord can find a nest for a mere sparrow, which is, after all, a nuisance bird,\u201d he said from the pulpit waving his arms above his head, \u201c then how much more he must love his special creation, man.\u201d\u00a0 He continued:\r\n
For I will restore health unto thee, <\/em>\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0and I will heal thee of thy wounds, <\/em>\r\n\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 saith the LORD.<\/em><\/blockquote>\r\nAnd again he explained what it meant. \u201cIf the Lord God looks after the birds of the fields, then don\u2019t you think He will take care of those made in His image? The Lord thy God is a merciful God, He is always waiting with open arms for you sinners to embrace him through the Holy Ghost.\u201d He is the healing God. As the Bible says, \u201cI have heard thy prayer, I will heal thee.\u201d\r\n\r\nAs they left the church and started the drive home to the farm, Bob could hear his Mom in the front seat.\r\n\r\n\u201cThat was a nice sermon.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201dYeah, I guess so,\u201d said his step-dad. \u201cBut it\u2019s hard to believe all that stuff about healing when you think about it.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cIt was nice.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cEverything is nice<\/em> for you.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cYou know what I mean, for heaven\u2019s sake.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cUmm. Are we goin\u2019 home now?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cNo, we are going to stop at the Renkes\u2019 house. Remember?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cOh, yeah. Do the kids know?\u201d\r\n\r\nThe kids. Bob and Beth were in the back seat of the Ford, sitting quietly for the time. They didn\u2019t often sit quietly. At five Beth was just beginning to awaken to the world of language. New words and new constructions of words were fun for her. And she practiced all the time.\r\n\r\n\u201cCan\u2019t you be quiet?\u201d he said more often than any other sentence.\r\n\r\nBut she really could not be quiet. She was excited about the words themselves, excited by the sounds that tumbled from her mouth, excited by the way people listened and reacted. She was learning to talk, and she needed to practice.\r\n\r\n\u201cDo the kids know what?\u201d said Bob, the nine year old, from the back. He was always listening to the talk from the front seat. What his sister said didn\u2019t matter much, but he listened carefully to his Mom and step Dad. They said interesting things some times.\r\n\r\n\u201cOh,\u201d said his Mom, turning slightly in the front to look back at the kids, \u201cwe are stopping at the neighbors, the Renkes, for coffee and a treat before we go home.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cBut, Mom; Daddy said, `do the kids know;<\/em>\u2019 he didn\u2019t say `do the kids <\/em>know?\u2019\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cYes, Bobby, that\u2019s right; that\u2019s what he said. What you need to know is that the Renkes have a boy about your age.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s good.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWell, yes, it should<\/em> be.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cShould be?\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\n\u201cListen, honey, and you, too, sweetheart,\u201d she said turning further in the seat. \u201cLittle Billy, that\u2019s his name, Billy, is not like you kids. He is not a healthy boy like you, Bobby. He was born with a bad problem. He has been sick since he was born.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cBilly have chicken-pox,\u201d said Beth.\r\n\r\n\u201cNo, sweetheart, he doesn\u2019t have chicken-pox.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cAt least she didn\u2019t say chicky-pox, like she used to,\u201d said Bob.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt is much worse than that. Now you must both be good when we are there. Don\u2019t stare at Billy and don\u2019t ask questions. We can talk about it later at home.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat do you mean, don\u2019t stare at Billy?\u00a0 Why would we stare?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cLet\u2019s start right now. Don\u2019t ask questions. We\u2019ll talk about it all later.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cBut, Mom, what does it mean?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cBilly is a very sick little boy. He cannot walk or talk. He is always in his crib.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cBut what is wrong with him, Mom? What does he do?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cNot now, Bobby, not now. Just wait.\u00a0 I\u2019ll explain everything later.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI want to hear that,\u201d said his stepfather under his breath as he turned the car into the Renkes\u2019 driveway.\r\n\r\nThe Renkes had a farm just one mile north of the home place. It was, like theirs, a half-section of land with a house and all the out buildings: barn, chicken house, granaries, and a shop with a shed for storing machinery. Bill and Verleen were about the same age as Ott and Margaret, but they had been married since after high school and had lived on the farm for all those years. Bill and Verleen had three children. The oldest, a boy, was born nineteen years ago, and he was away at college. Their daughter, a teenager, was still at home. And then, some ten years after the birth of their second child, they had Billy.\r\n\r\n\u201cCome in, come in,\u201d said Verleen. \u201cDid you just come from church?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cYes, we did. Isn\u2019t it a gorgeous day?\u00a0 It\u2019s so nice of you to invite us. We are just getting to know our neighbors. Have you been to church today already?\u201d\r\n\r\nBill and Ott stayed outside smoking cigarettes and talking.\r\n\r\n\u201cI went to early mass,\u201d said Verleen, \u201cand Bill stayed home. Bill doesn\u2019t go to mass anymore, and someone must stay with Billy. We cannot leave him alone. Here, come and meet Billy. Come along all of you; he\u2019s in his crib in the living room.\u201d\r\n\r\nBob was curious. What could a boy of six be doing in a crib? Beth was looking around for toys. His Mom reached down and took them each by a hand, and they walked into the living room. They had come in through the back door of the farmhouse, walked through the porch, where the boots and coats were, and then in through the kitchen.\u00a0 There were smells of bacon and coffee still in the kitchen, and as they walked into the living room, Bob could smell baby powder and the smell of church. It was not a bad smell, but different. The smell of cut flowers, sweat, perfume, barnyards, and wood all mixed together. On the wall as they entered the room was a picture of Jesus with a wood cross underneath it. He was always keeping an eye on visitors. He had long hair and a beard. Both were light brown, and his blue eyes followed you wherever you went. They were sad eyes, though, and Bob wondered why they would be sad.\r\n\r\n\u201cThis is Billy.\u201d\r\n\r\nThey were standing by the side of the crib now. Jesus was looking at them all.\r\n\r\nBilly was lying on his back. He was squirming and waving his arms around. His head was as big as Bob\u2019s head, but the rest of him was like a baby. Billy\u2019s eyes didn\u2019t see anything; they were like marbles pushed into his forehead. His eyes had no life to them; they did not follow you around at all. Billy\u2019s mouth was open and his tongue was hanging out. It waved like a little red flag when he shook his head back and forth, back and forth. Bob could see his little legs squirming under the blanket. Billy\u2019s head rolled back and forth in a constant and perpetual swing like a pendulum.\r\n\r\n\u201cOh, praise God,\u201d said Margaret. \u201dYou poor child.\u201d She squeezed Bob\u2019s hand hard.\r\n\r\n\u201cBilly funny,\u201d said Beth, \u201cBilly waving to Jesus.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cNo, sweetheart, Billy is sick.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cBilly have chicken-pox?\u201d\r\n\r\nThey looked at Billy for a minute or two. Verleen leaned over the crib and straightened the blanket, tucking in the bottom.\r\n\r\n\u201cHe always kicks the blanket loose,\u201d she said as she wiped his face with a tissue.\r\n\r\n\u201cHow old is Billy, Mrs. Renke?\u201d Bob asked.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhy Billy is going to be six next week. Yes, April 7 is his birthday, and he will be six years old,\u201d she said looking at him with sad Jesus eyes.\r\n\r\n\u201cLet\u2019s have some coffee and cake. Does that sound good?\u201d\r\n\r\nAs they made their way to the dining room table, a big round oak table with six chairs around it, Bob overheard Verleen telling his Mom about Billy.\r\n\r\n\u201cHe has a congenital defect,\u201d she was saying. \u201cHe was born with a condition they call Hydrocephaly. It affects the brain. He will never be any better. The doctor is surprised that Billy has lived so long.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cOh, you poor woman.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWell, God works in strange ways, and we must suffer. Suffering builds a strong soul,\u201d said Verleen, \u201cso I thank God for sending Billy.\u201d\r\n\r\nBob looked back and saw that Jesus was still looking at them, and at Billy lying in his crib. He wondered what Billy\u2019s soul was being strengthened for.\r\n\r\nThe men came in from outside and the talk of Billy stopped. They had some chocolate cake, with milk for the kids, and coffee for the adults. Ott and Bill talked about the early spring and how the wheat was starting to grow quickly now after having spent the winter in hibernation. They talked about the progress of the war.\r\n\r\n\u201cI see that Roosevelt has ordered the rationing of canned foods, meat, fat, and cheese,\u201d said Bill.\r\n\r\n\u201cYes, that\u2019s in effect now, isn\u2019t it? Good thing we are on a farm. We will still have all the meat and eggs we need,\u201d Ott replied. \u201cI saw in the paper that the US bombers had done some serious damage to the Japanese in the Battle of Bismark Sea. When do you suppose this war will be over?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cGod willing, it will be over very soon,\u201d Verleen said.\r\n\r\n\u201cOh, yes, God must be willing. We have sons there in danger,\u201d said Margaret.\r\n\r\nBob remembered how his Mom had broken down at the supper table last night after Daddy had said grace. She said right out loud: \u201cOh God, save Bud, you must save Bud.\u201d And then after a silence, she added, \u201cAnd Virgil, too.\u201d\r\n\r\nBud was his older brother, who was in the South Pacific with the US Coast Guard. And Virgil was his stepbrother, Ott\u2019s son, who was in Europe fighting the Germans. \u201cOur family is fighting Japs and Nazis,\u201d he thought, \u201cbut I guess Mom really loves Bud best, because he is her real son.\u201d\r\n\r\nAfter a short while they said their goodbyes and climbed back in the Ford for the one-mile trip home.\r\n\r\n\u201cI have to get home to see my pig,\u201d said Bob. \u201cHe\u2019s always hungry.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cBill gave me some squab,\u201d said Ott. \u201cWe could have them for supper. Do you know how to cook squab, Mom?\u201d\r\n\r\nBob and Beth had both noticed that grown men on the farm often called their wives \u201cMom.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cShe\u2019s not your Mom!\u201d said Beth, scolding her stepfather.\r\n\r\n\u201cYou are a bad girl; don\u2019t talk to daddy that way.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cBilly is funny,\u201d said Beth.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat is Hydrocephaly?\u201d asked Bob.\r\n\r\n\u201cNo, he is not funny, you shouldn\u2019t say that. He is sad,\u201d said Mom. \u201cThat\u2019s the name of the problem he has, Bobby.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cBilly\u2019s lucky,\u201d said Beth.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhy do you say that?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cBilly can\u2019t be bad.\u201d\r\n\r\nBob looked out over the field of wheat that was dark green with the plants spreading over the brown rows of earth and making a carpet of green. He noticed that the Renke\u2019s cows were grazing on the wheat and asked, \u201cWon\u2019t it hurt the wheat to have cows eating it?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cNot so long as the wheat hasn\u2019t started to joint,\u201d answered Ott. \u201cAs soon as the plants start to send up the central stalk then you have to get them cows out of there. But as long as it\u2019s just young lookin\u2019 grass, it\u2019s good for grazing.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat would happen if you left them in too long?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWell, then the wheat would not grow any bigger, and there would be no crop to harvest.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cHow do you know when to take them out?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cKeep an eye on the plants. They tell you when to get the critters out of the fields. As soon as the center part of the plant starts to grow, it\u2019s time to let it alone.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI wish the cows didn\u2019t ever eat wheat.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWhy\u2019s that?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cIt makes the milk taste awful. I wish we could have real milk.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWe do have real milk, silly. What could be more real than milk right from the cow?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI mean milk in a bottle with the little paper cap on the top and the cream at the top.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWell, we can\u2019t, and that\u2019s that,\u201d said his Mom. \u201cWe\u2019re on the farm now, and we don\u2019t have to buy our milk at the Safeway anymore.\r\n\r\nHey, kids, look there. Look!\u201d Ott pointed out toward the field of wheat to the west of the road. \u201cSee the coyote?\u201d\r\n\r\nHe pulled over onto the shoulder of the gravel road, stopped, and pointed out the window. There was a lone coyote loping across the field.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat\u2019s he got in his mouth?\u201d asked Bob.\r\n\r\n\u201cProbably a rabbit. Or somebody\u2019s chicken; hard to tell from here.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cAnd look; there are two hawks circling above the coyote.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe two hawks had noticed the kill and they wanted it.\r\n\r\n\u201cWatch this,\u201d said Ott.\r\n\r\nThe four of them were staring out the windows of the car watching the sky above the coyote as the hawks circled. One of the hawks made a dive at the coyote\u2019s head, pulling up short of contact. The coyote\u2019s head came up for a moment, and then he loped on, heading for his den. The other hawk made a swoop at the coyote\u2019s head even closer. The coyote stopped. The first hawk swooped down very close. The coyote dropped its prey and jumped at the hawk. Just then the other hawk swooped down, picked up the kill, and the two climbed quickly and silently into the sky, leaving behind a puzzled and outsmarted coyote.\r\n\r\n\u201cThey sure took care of him!\u201d\r\n\r\nThey drove on home. Out of a dust cloud in front of them emerged a blue Olds. It was Uncle Dick on his way to town. The two men exchanged the two-finger salute as the cars met. Farmers always drove with their right hand at twelve o\u2019clock on the steering wheel and simply lifted their first two fingers to offer a greeting to the cars and trucks they met on the road.\r\n\r\nAs they drove into the yard on this warm and sunny spring morning, the one thing that was different was this: the dog Trixie did not come out to greet them barking as she usually did. As they piled out of the car, Bob ran to the doghouse, which was between the washhouse and the back porch, to see if she was there. She was, and she had whelped while they were away at church and at the Renke\u2019s place.\r\n\r\nMom, Mom, look, Trixie has a bunch of pups here. I don\u2019t know how many, but lots of wiggling going on here next to her,\u201d shouted the boy.\r\n\r\nAll four of them kneeled down at the front of the doghouse to look at the new life. Wriggling around on the straw were five pups all trying to find a teat to suck for the first breakfast.\r\n\r\n\u201cOh, look, one of the pups is really tiny, and he doesn\u2019t have all of his legs,\u201d Bob said as he reached into the doghouse and lifted the little monster out into the sunlight. \u201cPoor little pup.\u201d\r\n\r\nOtt took the creature in one big hand and walked toward the barn.\r\n\r\n\u201cYou stay here, kids,\u201d said Mom.\r\n\r\nWhen he came back he did not have the pup with him.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat did you do to him?\u201d asked Bob.\r\n\r\n\u201cI put him down. He could never had made it. He\u2019s better off now. Don\u2019t look so sad. Sometimes it is the only thing to do. The only right thing to do. He never would have growed up, would have been in pain, couldn\u2019t do none of the things dogs do. Better this way. Let\u2019s look at these other four. Why lookee here. Trixie\u2019s got them all cleaned up, and they are ready to find a teat to suck on! Good dog, Trixie.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cHow did you do it?\u201d\r\n\r\nOtt looked at the boy.\u00a0 \u201cWhat difference does it make?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI just wondered.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWell, it was quick, and it was painless. I just hit him in the head with a piece of pipe. He didn\u2019t feel a thing, and now he\u2019s gone. Now, now, don\u2019t get upset. Sometimes killing a critter is the best thing you can do for it.\u201d\r\n\r\nThey put the pups squirming back into the doghouse with Trixie. It was her second litter, and she seemed to know what to do to make them warm. She lay on her side on the straw as the pups snuggled up to suck some milk.\r\n\r\n\u201cAfter awhile, Bob, you can get some clean straw, take the bloody straw out of the doghouse, and give her some new. Throw the old straw down on the manure pile outside the barn.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWhy bloody straw?\u201d asked Beth.\r\n\r\n\u201cComes with the pups,\u201d answered Mom. \u201cIt\u2019s just a part of giving birth. Trixie had to clean them all up after she delivered them. It\u2019s as natural as the sunshine, honey.\u201d\r\n\r\nBob ran down to the barn for some straw and to see how his new pig was doing. The pig was to be his 4-H project. It was a fine purebred pig that they had bought at the livestock sale in town. He got the straw, looked in at the pig, which was curled up in the shade sleeping, and ran back to the doghouse to replenish the straw.\r\n\r\nThat night Ott took Bob to the 4-H meeting. It was the first one he had attended, and he was excited to learn more about farming. The boys met once a month at someone\u2019s home and after a short program about livestock or food crops, they had a club meeting, some refreshments, and a discussion of plans for the county fair. Bob was the youngest of the 4-H\u2019ers and was just learning the ways of the farm boys.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat are you takin\u2019 to the fair, Bob?\u201d asked the club president.\r\n\r\n\u201cI have a pig.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat kind of pig?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s a New Hampshire.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe laughter was immediate and cruel.\r\n\r\nBob didn\u2019t know what was funny or what he had done. He squirmed in the sofa, looked at the faces around him for someone to help him understand.\r\n\r\n\u201cAnd, Evan, what are you taking?\u201d the same boy asked through his laughter.\r\n\r\n\u201cA New Yorker porker!\u201d\r\n\r\nA new round of laughter.\r\n\r\nThe boy next to Bob whispered, \u201cThe name of the breed is \u201cHampshire.\u201c\r\n\r\n\u201cOh, no,\u201d he thought, \u201cI made a fool of myself, a city fool.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe adult leader of the club, Mr. Fix, told the boys that it was most important for their club to make a good showing at the Fair this year, and he wanted everyone who was showing an animal to be sure that he was ready.\r\n\r\n\u201cYou must be sure to read the requirements for showing your animals and be sure to train them for the show ring. Pigs, for example, whether they are \u201cnew\u201d or not, must be trained to walk around the show ring and to stop by the judges. You will have a staff and the pig should be under your control at all times. When you stop by the judges, you want your animal to stand still and let the judge approach. We don\u2019t want no judge bein\u2019 bit by a mean New Hampshire pig!\u201d\r\n\r\nOn the way out to the car, Bob took one of the booklets on how to train your pig. When they got in the car, Ott said, \u201cYou look sad; what\u2019s wrong?\u201d\r\n\r\nBob told him about the mistake.\r\n\r\n\u201cOh, don\u2019t worry about that none. Hell, most of those boys don\u2019t even know where New Hampshire is.\u201d\r\n\r\nThat night Bob dreamed of his brother, Bud, who was somewhere in the South Pacific fighting Japs. In the dream Bud was on a jungle island carrying a flamethrower up a hill to a bunker filled with Japs and machine guns. As he approached the top of the hill, crawling through the underbrush, it suddenly started to rain. The soldiers in the bunker stood up to let the rain fall on their faces, and as they did, their yellow skin washed away, and they all looked like his brother. Bud saw this, too, and it must have been like looking in a mirror, for he put the flamethrower down in the bush, turned around, and started back the way he had come. Bob woke.\r\n\r\n\u201cCome boss, come boss,\u201d Bob called to the milk cows.\r\n\r\nThe cows hurried from the field into the barn. After hooking them up to the manger and\u00a0 putting kickers on them, the milker sat on the one-legged stool and milked into the galvanized buckets. Milking cows was always a challenge. The cows, even after being sprayed, were bothered by flies, and the tail of a cow when swung with gusto could leave a real welt on the head of the milker. And sometimes the tail was covered with manure as well. And on occasion when your luck wasn\u2019t too good, the cow would swing that tail and try to kick out of the metal leg chain that went just above the knee bone. Or the cow would step on your foot. Kept you awake, all right.\r\n\r\nAfter milking they put grease on the teats, unhooked the cows, and sent them back into the field until evening when they would do it all over again. They poured some of the fresh milk into a pan for the barn cats. Then they took the milk to the milk house, poured it into the separator, and turned the crank to separate the cream from the milk. The cream went into a metal cream can while the skim milk was used for pigs and chickens.\u00a0 Bob took some of the skim milk, mixed it into some ground barley and corn, and stirred it to make a mash for his pig that was awake and waiting for breakfast.\r\n\r\n\u201cHere you go, New Hampshire,\u201c he said slopping the mash into the feeder. \u201cI\u2019m going to start training you today.\u201d And he worked for maybe an hour with the pig that afternoon before evening chores. He tried to get the pig used to being in a pen with a human. He even tried to direct the pig around the pen on command. The pig, now known as \u201cNew,\u201d was completely uninterested in being trained to do anything.\r\n\r\n\u201cNew,\u201d said Bob, \u201cstand still.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe pig would run toward the feeder.\r\n\r\n\u201cHere, let\u2019s go around the pen.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe pig would stand perfectly still.\r\n\r\nFor the next month it went like that. Bob would try to teach the pig to do what it was required to do to be shown at the county fair. He would go to a training session and quickly end up just watching the pig. It was a big hog by now, growing every day. It had deep set intelligent eyes that looked out from a forehead trench at the boy, waiting to see what the boy would try and then ignoring him totally. The pig ate. It wallowed. It slept. It grew. But it never did cooperate.\r\n\r\n\u201cHow\u2019s the pig training comin\u2019 along?\u201d asked Ott.\r\n\r\n\u201cOh, it\u2019s coming.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cReady for the fair in July?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cYeah. He\u2019ll be ready.\u201d\r\n\r\nBut Bob knew he would never get the pig to do anything other than eat, sleep, and wallow.\u00a0 Never get him ready for showing. He took an old shovel handle and used it to try to whack some sense into New. But New didn\u2019t respond well to whacking. He either ignored it or got angry and charged the boy, chasing him out of the pen.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat am I going to do? The other boys will really get on me when they see my \u201cNew\u201d Hampshire pig in the fair chasing the judge around the judging pen. And I\u2019ll be laughed at forever. Why did we ever move to this farm?\u00a0 Why couldn\u2019t I have stayed in Denver where there were no pigs, no 4-H, and no county fairs for me to have to show my pig at? Oh, God, please help me make this pig behave.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe prayed a lot that summer. The prayers were never very complicated. \u201cOh, God, please make it that I closed the gate to the pasture,\u201d he would say to himself, or sometimes out loud if he were alone. But the gate was still open and the cows all got out into the farmyard and had to be rounded up.\r\n\r\n\u201cWho left the goddamned gate open?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cOh, God, please make my step-dad love me.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cPlease, oh, God, make Billy well.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cPlease, God, make the war end.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe found that his prayers were not being answered. He thought that maybe something was wrong in his approach. He tried kneeling down. He tried stretching his arms out toward the heavens. He tried thinking his prayers. Whispering his prayers. Shouting his prayers. But always the same silence. Billy never improved. If he left the gate open, it stayed open. The war went on in the Pacific. He wondered what was wrong in the heavens.\r\n\r\nAt Sunday school he learned about Jesus, who, the teacher said, was the Son of God. He was told about how Jesus died for our sins and how he was a mediator between God and humans.\r\n\r\n\u201cI have been praying to God and I should have been praying to Jesus,\u201d Bob thought.\r\n\r\nHe changed his prayers.\r\n\r\n\u201cJesus, please make Billy well.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnd sometime later Billy died.\r\n\r\n\u201cBilly is now in heaven,\u201d his mother said. \u201cBilly is with Jesus now.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cIt works,\u201d he thought, \u201cit actually works!\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cThank you, Jesus, for taking Billy.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe prayed, \u201cJesus make the war stop, please make it that we win.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnd, on May 8, 1945, they all gathered around the battery-powered Atwater Kent in the living room to listen to President Truman.\r\n\r\nThis is a solemn but a glorious hour. I only wish that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day. General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations. The flags of freedom fly over all Europe. <\/em>\r\n\r\nFor this victory, we join in offering our thanks to the Providence which has guided and sustained us through the dark days of adversity.<\/em>\r\n\r\nThe radio crackled and the president\u2019s voice faded for a moment. Bob looked at his parents. They were both straining to hear his words. The war was over for Virgil but not yet over for Bud. \u201cI\u2019ll pray tonight for an end to the war in the East,\u201d he thought.\r\n\r\nAnd now, I want to read to you my formal proclamation of this occasion: <\/em>\r\n\r\nA proclamation--The Allied armies, through sacrifice and devotion and with God's help have wrung from Germany a final and unconditional surrender. The western world has been freed of the evil forces which for five years and longer have imprisoned the bodies and broken the lives of millions upon millions of free-born men. \u2026 give thanks to Almighty God, who has strengthened us and given us the victory. <\/em>\r\n\r\nNow, therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, do hereby appoint Sunday, May 13, 1945, to be a day of prayer.<\/em>\r\n\r\n\u201cI knew it! I knew it would work,\u201d he thought.\r\n\r\n\u201cI can\u2019t wait until the war is really over everywhere.\u201d said his Mom, \u201cKeep my boy safe, oh, Lord.\u201d\r\n\r\nAfter a bit they all went to bed. Bob climbed into his bed on the front porch and prayed. \u201cJesus, bring my brother home safe\u201d and\u00a0 \u201cJesus, please do something to help me with my pig. As you know I am supposed to show him at the Yuma County Fair at the end of July, but he is not ready, and I\u2019ll be the joke of the whole county. Please help me.\u201d\r\n\r\nThat summer the polio epidemic became so bad that state officials closed all public swimming pools. Pictures of people in iron lungs were showing up in the Rocky Mountain News<\/em>. Bob studied the pictures. Only the head of the polio victim could be seen. Parents were warned not to let their children drink from public water fountains.\r\n\r\nIt was a bad summer. And finally the word came.\r\n\r\nThe state ordered all county fairs to be cancelled because of the polio epidemic. Bob heard about the cancellation on the radio on KOA Denver at breakfast one morning. He ran outside and went to the pig shed. He looked at New.\r\n\r\n\u201cThank you, Jesus, for sending polio,\u201d he prayed.\r\n\r\n ","rendered":"

Billy<\/h2>\n

The pastor gave two readings that Sunday morning at the Lutheran church. First he read from one of the psalms:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even the sparrow finds a home,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and the swallow a nest for herself,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 where she may lay her young,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0at your altars, O LORD of hosts,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 my King and my God.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He explained how the meaning of the psalm was clear. \u201cIf the Lord can find a nest for a mere sparrow, which is, after all, a nuisance bird,\u201d he said from the pulpit waving his arms above his head, \u201c then how much more he must love his special creation, man.\u201d\u00a0 He continued:<\/p>\n

For I will restore health unto thee, <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0and I will heal thee of thy wounds, <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 saith the LORD.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And again he explained what it meant. \u201cIf the Lord God looks after the birds of the fields, then don\u2019t you think He will take care of those made in His image? The Lord thy God is a merciful God, He is always waiting with open arms for you sinners to embrace him through the Holy Ghost.\u201d He is the healing God. As the Bible says, \u201cI have heard thy prayer, I will heal thee.\u201d<\/p>\n

As they left the church and started the drive home to the farm, Bob could hear his Mom in the front seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a nice sermon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201dYeah, I guess so,\u201d said his step-dad. \u201cBut it\u2019s hard to believe all that stuff about healing when you think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is nice<\/em> for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what I mean, for heaven\u2019s sake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUmm. Are we goin\u2019 home now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, we are going to stop at the Renkes\u2019 house. Remember?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yeah. Do the kids know?\u201d<\/p>\n

The kids. Bob and Beth were in the back seat of the Ford, sitting quietly for the time. They didn\u2019t often sit quietly. At five Beth was just beginning to awaken to the world of language. New words and new constructions of words were fun for her. And she practiced all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t you be quiet?\u201d he said more often than any other sentence.<\/p>\n

But she really could not be quiet. She was excited about the words themselves, excited by the sounds that tumbled from her mouth, excited by the way people listened and reacted. She was learning to talk, and she needed to practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo the kids know what?\u201d said Bob, the nine year old, from the back. He was always listening to the talk from the front seat. What his sister said didn\u2019t matter much, but he listened carefully to his Mom and step Dad. They said interesting things some times.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d said his Mom, turning slightly in the front to look back at the kids, \u201cwe are stopping at the neighbors, the Renkes, for coffee and a treat before we go home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, Mom; Daddy said, `do the kids know;<\/em>\u2019 he didn\u2019t say `do the kids <\/em>know?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Bobby, that\u2019s right; that\u2019s what he said. What you need to know is that the Renkes have a boy about your age.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, yes, it should<\/em> be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShould be?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cListen, honey, and you, too, sweetheart,\u201d she said turning further in the seat. \u201cLittle Billy, that\u2019s his name, Billy, is not like you kids. He is not a healthy boy like you, Bobby. He was born with a bad problem. He has been sick since he was born.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly have chicken-pox,\u201d said Beth.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, sweetheart, he doesn\u2019t have chicken-pox.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least she didn\u2019t say chicky-pox, like she used to,\u201d said Bob.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is much worse than that. Now you must both be good when we are there. Don\u2019t stare at Billy and don\u2019t ask questions. We can talk about it later at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean, don\u2019t stare at Billy?\u00a0 Why would we stare?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s start right now. Don\u2019t ask questions. We\u2019ll talk about it all later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, Mom, what does it mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly is a very sick little boy. He cannot walk or talk. He is always in his crib.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what is wrong with him, Mom? What does he do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot now, Bobby, not now. Just wait.\u00a0 I\u2019ll explain everything later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to hear that,\u201d said his stepfather under his breath as he turned the car into the Renkes\u2019 driveway.<\/p>\n

The Renkes had a farm just one mile north of the home place. It was, like theirs, a half-section of land with a house and all the out buildings: barn, chicken house, granaries, and a shop with a shed for storing machinery. Bill and Verleen were about the same age as Ott and Margaret, but they had been married since after high school and had lived on the farm for all those years. Bill and Verleen had three children. The oldest, a boy, was born nineteen years ago, and he was away at college. Their daughter, a teenager, was still at home. And then, some ten years after the birth of their second child, they had Billy.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome in, come in,\u201d said Verleen. \u201cDid you just come from church?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we did. Isn\u2019t it a gorgeous day?\u00a0 It\u2019s so nice of you to invite us. We are just getting to know our neighbors. Have you been to church today already?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bill and Ott stayed outside smoking cigarettes and talking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to early mass,\u201d said Verleen, \u201cand Bill stayed home. Bill doesn\u2019t go to mass anymore, and someone must stay with Billy. We cannot leave him alone. Here, come and meet Billy. Come along all of you; he\u2019s in his crib in the living room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob was curious. What could a boy of six be doing in a crib? Beth was looking around for toys. His Mom reached down and took them each by a hand, and they walked into the living room. They had come in through the back door of the farmhouse, walked through the porch, where the boots and coats were, and then in through the kitchen.\u00a0 There were smells of bacon and coffee still in the kitchen, and as they walked into the living room, Bob could smell baby powder and the smell of church. It was not a bad smell, but different. The smell of cut flowers, sweat, perfume, barnyards, and wood all mixed together. On the wall as they entered the room was a picture of Jesus with a wood cross underneath it. He was always keeping an eye on visitors. He had long hair and a beard. Both were light brown, and his blue eyes followed you wherever you went. They were sad eyes, though, and Bob wondered why they would be sad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Billy.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were standing by the side of the crib now. Jesus was looking at them all.<\/p>\n

Billy was lying on his back. He was squirming and waving his arms around. His head was as big as Bob\u2019s head, but the rest of him was like a baby. Billy\u2019s eyes didn\u2019t see anything; they were like marbles pushed into his forehead. His eyes had no life to them; they did not follow you around at all. Billy\u2019s mouth was open and his tongue was hanging out. It waved like a little red flag when he shook his head back and forth, back and forth. Bob could see his little legs squirming under the blanket. Billy\u2019s head rolled back and forth in a constant and perpetual swing like a pendulum.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, praise God,\u201d said Margaret. \u201dYou poor child.\u201d She squeezed Bob\u2019s hand hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly funny,\u201d said Beth, \u201cBilly waving to Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, sweetheart, Billy is sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly have chicken-pox?\u201d<\/p>\n

They looked at Billy for a minute or two. Verleen leaned over the crib and straightened the blanket, tucking in the bottom.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always kicks the blanket loose,\u201d she said as she wiped his face with a tissue.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow old is Billy, Mrs. Renke?\u201d Bob asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy Billy is going to be six next week. Yes, April 7 is his birthday, and he will be six years old,\u201d she said looking at him with sad Jesus eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s have some coffee and cake. Does that sound good?\u201d<\/p>\n

As they made their way to the dining room table, a big round oak table with six chairs around it, Bob overheard Verleen telling his Mom about Billy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a congenital defect,\u201d she was saying. \u201cHe was born with a condition they call Hydrocephaly. It affects the brain. He will never be any better. The doctor is surprised that Billy has lived so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, you poor woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, God works in strange ways, and we must suffer. Suffering builds a strong soul,\u201d said Verleen, \u201cso I thank God for sending Billy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob looked back and saw that Jesus was still looking at them, and at Billy lying in his crib. He wondered what Billy\u2019s soul was being strengthened for.<\/p>\n

The men came in from outside and the talk of Billy stopped. They had some chocolate cake, with milk for the kids, and coffee for the adults. Ott and Bill talked about the early spring and how the wheat was starting to grow quickly now after having spent the winter in hibernation. They talked about the progress of the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see that Roosevelt has ordered the rationing of canned foods, meat, fat, and cheese,\u201d said Bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, that\u2019s in effect now, isn\u2019t it? Good thing we are on a farm. We will still have all the meat and eggs we need,\u201d Ott replied. \u201cI saw in the paper that the US bombers had done some serious damage to the Japanese in the Battle of Bismark Sea. When do you suppose this war will be over?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGod willing, it will be over very soon,\u201d Verleen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yes, God must be willing. We have sons there in danger,\u201d said Margaret.<\/p>\n

Bob remembered how his Mom had broken down at the supper table last night after Daddy had said grace. She said right out loud: \u201cOh God, save Bud, you must save Bud.\u201d And then after a silence, she added, \u201cAnd Virgil, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bud was his older brother, who was in the South Pacific with the US Coast Guard. And Virgil was his stepbrother, Ott\u2019s son, who was in Europe fighting the Germans. \u201cOur family is fighting Japs and Nazis,\u201d he thought, \u201cbut I guess Mom really loves Bud best, because he is her real son.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a short while they said their goodbyes and climbed back in the Ford for the one-mile trip home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to get home to see my pig,\u201d said Bob. \u201cHe\u2019s always hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBill gave me some squab,\u201d said Ott. \u201cWe could have them for supper. Do you know how to cook squab, Mom?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob and Beth had both noticed that grown men on the farm often called their wives \u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not your Mom!\u201d said Beth, scolding her stepfather.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are a bad girl; don\u2019t talk to daddy that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly is funny,\u201d said Beth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is Hydrocephaly?\u201d asked Bob.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, he is not funny, you shouldn\u2019t say that. He is sad,\u201d said Mom. \u201cThat\u2019s the name of the problem he has, Bobby.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly\u2019s lucky,\u201d said Beth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do you say that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly can\u2019t be bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob looked out over the field of wheat that was dark green with the plants spreading over the brown rows of earth and making a carpet of green. He noticed that the Renke\u2019s cows were grazing on the wheat and asked, \u201cWon\u2019t it hurt the wheat to have cows eating it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot so long as the wheat hasn\u2019t started to joint,\u201d answered Ott. \u201cAs soon as the plants start to send up the central stalk then you have to get them cows out of there. But as long as it\u2019s just young lookin\u2019 grass, it\u2019s good for grazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would happen if you left them in too long?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, then the wheat would not grow any bigger, and there would be no crop to harvest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you know when to take them out?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep an eye on the plants. They tell you when to get the critters out of the fields. As soon as the center part of the plant starts to grow, it\u2019s time to let it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish the cows didn\u2019t ever eat wheat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes the milk taste awful. I wish we could have real milk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have real milk, silly. What could be more real than milk right from the cow?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean milk in a bottle with the little paper cap on the top and the cream at the top.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we can\u2019t, and that\u2019s that,\u201d said his Mom. \u201cWe\u2019re on the farm now, and we don\u2019t have to buy our milk at the Safeway anymore.<\/p>\n

Hey, kids, look there. Look!\u201d Ott pointed out toward the field of wheat to the west of the road. \u201cSee the coyote?\u201d<\/p>\n

He pulled over onto the shoulder of the gravel road, stopped, and pointed out the window. There was a lone coyote loping across the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s he got in his mouth?\u201d asked Bob.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably a rabbit. Or somebody\u2019s chicken; hard to tell from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd look; there are two hawks circling above the coyote.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two hawks had noticed the kill and they wanted it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch this,\u201d said Ott.<\/p>\n

The four of them were staring out the windows of the car watching the sky above the coyote as the hawks circled. One of the hawks made a dive at the coyote\u2019s head, pulling up short of contact. The coyote\u2019s head came up for a moment, and then he loped on, heading for his den. The other hawk made a swoop at the coyote\u2019s head even closer. The coyote stopped. The first hawk swooped down very close. The coyote dropped its prey and jumped at the hawk. Just then the other hawk swooped down, picked up the kill, and the two climbed quickly and silently into the sky, leaving behind a puzzled and outsmarted coyote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey sure took care of him!\u201d<\/p>\n

They drove on home. Out of a dust cloud in front of them emerged a blue Olds. It was Uncle Dick on his way to town. The two men exchanged the two-finger salute as the cars met. Farmers always drove with their right hand at twelve o\u2019clock on the steering wheel and simply lifted their first two fingers to offer a greeting to the cars and trucks they met on the road.<\/p>\n

As they drove into the yard on this warm and sunny spring morning, the one thing that was different was this: the dog Trixie did not come out to greet them barking as she usually did. As they piled out of the car, Bob ran to the doghouse, which was between the washhouse and the back porch, to see if she was there. She was, and she had whelped while they were away at church and at the Renke\u2019s place.<\/p>\n

Mom, Mom, look, Trixie has a bunch of pups here. I don\u2019t know how many, but lots of wiggling going on here next to her,\u201d shouted the boy.<\/p>\n

All four of them kneeled down at the front of the doghouse to look at the new life. Wriggling around on the straw were five pups all trying to find a teat to suck for the first breakfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, look, one of the pups is really tiny, and he doesn\u2019t have all of his legs,\u201d Bob said as he reached into the doghouse and lifted the little monster out into the sunlight. \u201cPoor little pup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ott took the creature in one big hand and walked toward the barn.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou stay here, kids,\u201d said Mom.<\/p>\n

When he came back he did not have the pup with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did you do to him?\u201d asked Bob.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put him down. He could never had made it. He\u2019s better off now. Don\u2019t look so sad. Sometimes it is the only thing to do. The only right thing to do. He never would have growed up, would have been in pain, couldn\u2019t do none of the things dogs do. Better this way. Let\u2019s look at these other four. Why lookee here. Trixie\u2019s got them all cleaned up, and they are ready to find a teat to suck on! Good dog, Trixie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did you do it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ott looked at the boy.\u00a0 \u201cWhat difference does it make?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wondered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it was quick, and it was painless. I just hit him in the head with a piece of pipe. He didn\u2019t feel a thing, and now he\u2019s gone. Now, now, don\u2019t get upset. Sometimes killing a critter is the best thing you can do for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

They put the pups squirming back into the doghouse with Trixie. It was her second litter, and she seemed to know what to do to make them warm. She lay on her side on the straw as the pups snuggled up to suck some milk.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter awhile, Bob, you can get some clean straw, take the bloody straw out of the doghouse, and give her some new. Throw the old straw down on the manure pile outside the barn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy bloody straw?\u201d asked Beth.<\/p>\n

\u201cComes with the pups,\u201d answered Mom. \u201cIt\u2019s just a part of giving birth. Trixie had to clean them all up after she delivered them. It\u2019s as natural as the sunshine, honey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob ran down to the barn for some straw and to see how his new pig was doing. The pig was to be his 4-H project. It was a fine purebred pig that they had bought at the livestock sale in town. He got the straw, looked in at the pig, which was curled up in the shade sleeping, and ran back to the doghouse to replenish the straw.<\/p>\n

That night Ott took Bob to the 4-H meeting. It was the first one he had attended, and he was excited to learn more about farming. The boys met once a month at someone\u2019s home and after a short program about livestock or food crops, they had a club meeting, some refreshments, and a discussion of plans for the county fair. Bob was the youngest of the 4-H\u2019ers and was just learning the ways of the farm boys.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you takin\u2019 to the fair, Bob?\u201d asked the club president.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a pig.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind of pig?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a New Hampshire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The laughter was immediate and cruel.<\/p>\n

Bob didn\u2019t know what was funny or what he had done. He squirmed in the sofa, looked at the faces around him for someone to help him understand.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, Evan, what are you taking?\u201d the same boy asked through his laughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cA New Yorker porker!\u201d<\/p>\n

A new round of laughter.<\/p>\n

The boy next to Bob whispered, \u201cThe name of the breed is \u201cHampshire.\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, no,\u201d he thought, \u201cI made a fool of myself, a city fool.\u201d<\/p>\n

The adult leader of the club, Mr. Fix, told the boys that it was most important for their club to make a good showing at the Fair this year, and he wanted everyone who was showing an animal to be sure that he was ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must be sure to read the requirements for showing your animals and be sure to train them for the show ring. Pigs, for example, whether they are \u201cnew\u201d or not, must be trained to walk around the show ring and to stop by the judges. You will have a staff and the pig should be under your control at all times. When you stop by the judges, you want your animal to stand still and let the judge approach. We don\u2019t want no judge bein\u2019 bit by a mean New Hampshire pig!\u201d<\/p>\n

On the way out to the car, Bob took one of the booklets on how to train your pig. When they got in the car, Ott said, \u201cYou look sad; what\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob told him about the mistake.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, don\u2019t worry about that none. Hell, most of those boys don\u2019t even know where New Hampshire is.\u201d<\/p>\n

That night Bob dreamed of his brother, Bud, who was somewhere in the South Pacific fighting Japs. In the dream Bud was on a jungle island carrying a flamethrower up a hill to a bunker filled with Japs and machine guns. As he approached the top of the hill, crawling through the underbrush, it suddenly started to rain. The soldiers in the bunker stood up to let the rain fall on their faces, and as they did, their yellow skin washed away, and they all looked like his brother. Bud saw this, too, and it must have been like looking in a mirror, for he put the flamethrower down in the bush, turned around, and started back the way he had come. Bob woke.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome boss, come boss,\u201d Bob called to the milk cows.<\/p>\n

The cows hurried from the field into the barn. After hooking them up to the manger and\u00a0 putting kickers on them, the milker sat on the one-legged stool and milked into the galvanized buckets. Milking cows was always a challenge. The cows, even after being sprayed, were bothered by flies, and the tail of a cow when swung with gusto could leave a real welt on the head of the milker. And sometimes the tail was covered with manure as well. And on occasion when your luck wasn\u2019t too good, the cow would swing that tail and try to kick out of the metal leg chain that went just above the knee bone. Or the cow would step on your foot. Kept you awake, all right.<\/p>\n

After milking they put grease on the teats, unhooked the cows, and sent them back into the field until evening when they would do it all over again. They poured some of the fresh milk into a pan for the barn cats. Then they took the milk to the milk house, poured it into the separator, and turned the crank to separate the cream from the milk. The cream went into a metal cream can while the skim milk was used for pigs and chickens.\u00a0 Bob took some of the skim milk, mixed it into some ground barley and corn, and stirred it to make a mash for his pig that was awake and waiting for breakfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere you go, New Hampshire,\u201c he said slopping the mash into the feeder. \u201cI\u2019m going to start training you today.\u201d And he worked for maybe an hour with the pig that afternoon before evening chores. He tried to get the pig used to being in a pen with a human. He even tried to direct the pig around the pen on command. The pig, now known as \u201cNew,\u201d was completely uninterested in being trained to do anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew,\u201d said Bob, \u201cstand still.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pig would run toward the feeder.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, let\u2019s go around the pen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pig would stand perfectly still.<\/p>\n

For the next month it went like that. Bob would try to teach the pig to do what it was required to do to be shown at the county fair. He would go to a training session and quickly end up just watching the pig. It was a big hog by now, growing every day. It had deep set intelligent eyes that looked out from a forehead trench at the boy, waiting to see what the boy would try and then ignoring him totally. The pig ate. It wallowed. It slept. It grew. But it never did cooperate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019s the pig training comin\u2019 along?\u201d asked Ott.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, it\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReady for the fair in July?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. He\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Bob knew he would never get the pig to do anything other than eat, sleep, and wallow.\u00a0 Never get him ready for showing. He took an old shovel handle and used it to try to whack some sense into New. But New didn\u2019t respond well to whacking. He either ignored it or got angry and charged the boy, chasing him out of the pen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat am I going to do? The other boys will really get on me when they see my \u201cNew\u201d Hampshire pig in the fair chasing the judge around the judging pen. And I\u2019ll be laughed at forever. Why did we ever move to this farm?\u00a0 Why couldn\u2019t I have stayed in Denver where there were no pigs, no 4-H, and no county fairs for me to have to show my pig at? Oh, God, please help me make this pig behave.\u201d<\/p>\n

He prayed a lot that summer. The prayers were never very complicated. \u201cOh, God, please make it that I closed the gate to the pasture,\u201d he would say to himself, or sometimes out loud if he were alone. But the gate was still open and the cows all got out into the farmyard and had to be rounded up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho left the goddamned gate open?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, God, please make my step-dad love me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease, oh, God, make Billy well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease, God, make the war end.\u201d<\/p>\n

He found that his prayers were not being answered. He thought that maybe something was wrong in his approach. He tried kneeling down. He tried stretching his arms out toward the heavens. He tried thinking his prayers. Whispering his prayers. Shouting his prayers. But always the same silence. Billy never improved. If he left the gate open, it stayed open. The war went on in the Pacific. He wondered what was wrong in the heavens.<\/p>\n

At Sunday school he learned about Jesus, who, the teacher said, was the Son of God. He was told about how Jesus died for our sins and how he was a mediator between God and humans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been praying to God and I should have been praying to Jesus,\u201d Bob thought.<\/p>\n

He changed his prayers.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus, please make Billy well.\u201d<\/p>\n

And sometime later Billy died.<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly is now in heaven,\u201d his mother said. \u201cBilly is with Jesus now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt works,\u201d he thought, \u201cit actually works!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Jesus, for taking Billy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He prayed, \u201cJesus make the war stop, please make it that we win.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, on May 8, 1945, they all gathered around the battery-powered Atwater Kent in the living room to listen to President Truman.<\/p>\n

This is a solemn but a glorious hour. I only wish that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day. General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations. The flags of freedom fly over all Europe. <\/em><\/p>\n

For this victory, we join in offering our thanks to the Providence which has guided and sustained us through the dark days of adversity.<\/em><\/p>\n

The radio crackled and the president\u2019s voice faded for a moment. Bob looked at his parents. They were both straining to hear his words. The war was over for Virgil but not yet over for Bud. \u201cI\u2019ll pray tonight for an end to the war in the East,\u201d he thought.<\/p>\n

And now, I want to read to you my formal proclamation of this occasion: <\/em><\/p>\n

A proclamation–The Allied armies, through sacrifice and devotion and with God’s help have wrung from Germany a final and unconditional surrender. The western world has been freed of the evil forces which for five years and longer have imprisoned the bodies and broken the lives of millions upon millions of free-born men. \u2026 give thanks to Almighty God, who has strengthened us and given us the victory. <\/em><\/p>\n

Now, therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, do hereby appoint Sunday, May 13, 1945, to be a day of prayer.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it! I knew it would work,\u201d he thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait until the war is really over everywhere.\u201d said his Mom, \u201cKeep my boy safe, oh, Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a bit they all went to bed. Bob climbed into his bed on the front porch and prayed. \u201cJesus, bring my brother home safe\u201d and\u00a0 \u201cJesus, please do something to help me with my pig. As you know I am supposed to show him at the Yuma County Fair at the end of July, but he is not ready, and I\u2019ll be the joke of the whole county. Please help me.\u201d<\/p>\n

That summer the polio epidemic became so bad that state officials closed all public swimming pools. Pictures of people in iron lungs were showing up in the Rocky Mountain News<\/em>. Bob studied the pictures. Only the head of the polio victim could be seen. Parents were warned not to let their children drink from public water fountains.<\/p>\n

It was a bad summer. And finally the word came.<\/p>\n

The state ordered all county fairs to be cancelled because of the polio epidemic. Bob heard about the cancellation on the radio on KOA Denver at breakfast one morning. He ran outside and went to the pig shed. He looked at New.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Jesus, for sending polio,\u201d he prayed.<\/p>\n

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