When Amanda Ravetta posted on Rockwall’s Facebook page asking for recommendations on where to love on Highland cows, she hoped to find a farm experience she could buy as a Christmas gift for her 12-year-old son, Eli, who has Down syndrome. “Eli has loved cows since before he could walk,” Amanda says. “His entire room is cow themed, and his first sentence was ‘I like cow.’”
Years ago, Eli had visited a massive dairy cow farm owned by a friend of a friend, and the experience was life changing. As all the calves were herded into their small pens, frightened, one walked up to Eli and interacted with him. “All the baby cows were tagged with a four-digit number except for this cow, whose number was 21,” Amanda recounts, adding that Down syndrome is three copies of the twenty-first chromosome. When she explained the significance to the farmer, he teared up and not only let Eli bottle-feed the calf but also let him write his name on the calf’s tag.
Amanda hoped to provide Eli with a similar experience in Rockwall. What happened surpassed her wildest expectations. Sara Pierson, who owns a small family farm, responded, inviting Amanda and Eli to come out and visit their sweet Highland cow. She added that her friend Kacey Borrman, a photographer, volunteered to take pictures of Eli’s farm visit.
Amanda was thrilled. Christmas morning, Eli opened his gift: a stuffed Highland cow, along with a photo collage of farm animals Sara had sent, and a note that said, “Santa is sending you here to love on these animals.”
On December 28th, Eli met Junior, the Piersons’ sweet Highland cow, along with a few other cows, pigs, chickens, and a duck named Fancy. “He was so excited. Eli exudes love, so he just burst at the seams petting and loving on all the animals. He even got to harvest eggs from the henhouse.”
At the end of the day, Sara and Kacey presented him with a carton of eggs and a priceless souvenir to commemorate the day: a custom "Goodnight" book filled with beautiful watercolored photos of the farm’s animals—each one sending Eli a warm bedtime wish, straight from their pasture to his. And to the rest of us . . . the reminder that kindness and the generosity of neighbors is still alive and well in Rockwall.
Follow Eli’s journey on Instagram @raisingeli2013.