by Dan Mazur
HEAVENS TO BESSIE!
THE WEIRD, WONDERFUL STORY OF A GIRL AND HER PET COW
Copyright 2015 Dan Mazur
This book is dedicated to the real Johanna, my grandma, “Nanny”, whose love, gentle soul, and compassion for animals will forever be a part of me.
Times were tough in 1930s Poland as many families had to struggle just to make ends meet. The Hinglots were one of those families who had to work hard for everything they had which wasn’t much. But they earned everything that owned which included a small patch of farmland. It was a very small farm and the family only had a couple of cows and only four chickens. They couldn’t afford a big farm with a lot of animals so they had to make do with what they had. The farm was located in a rural village a few miles outside of Warsaw, one of Poland’s biggest cities.
Once a week, Mr. Hinglot would travel to Warsaw and barter with his fellow farmers and local merchants. He always came home tired and frustrated on those days. It was a rough existence, but the Hinglots were determined to never give up and keep working hard. With eight children, the family had to make do with what precious few resources they had.
The family was made up of seven girls and one boy which made for a crowded household. The girls would share clothes, passing them on to the next sister when they no longer fit. They didn’t have much in terms of money, food, clothes, or housing but it was all they ever knew and they were grateful for what they had.
All of the other farmers in the village would help each other with their farms. They would work long, hard hours in the fields in all kinds of weather Mrs. Hinglot and the girls would take care of the inside of the house, cooked meals, collected the eggs, and milked the cows. The heavy labour in the fields would be taken care of by Mr. Hinglot and his fellow farmers. The Hinglot’s only son, Albert was only 5 and was far too young to help his Dad so he would assist his Mom and sisters instead. One day, when he was older he would be out there next to his Dad tilling the fields.
Mr. Hinglot bought the farmland from a friend of his that he worked with in the dirty and dangerous coal mines of Poland. Mr. Hinglot had previously injured his back in the mines and was unable to work for a month. The family would be lost if anything ever happened to him. He didn’t want to risk further injury, so after talking things over with his wife, he decided to try his hand at farming. His friend told Mr. Hinglot that there wasn’t much to the farm when he sold it to him. He sold him the farm at a drastically reduced price that fell within Mr. Hinglot’s meagre price range.
On the farm there were only three cows including one younger cow who wasn’t ready to be milked as well as four hens. They also didn’t have much farming equipment which was going to make the work in the fields much more difficult and time-consuming. The animals looked to be well taken care of and they all seemed content with their life on the farm. All except for the youngest cow who looked to be about a year or two old. She had been rejected by her mother when she was a baby and the other cow wanted nothing to do with her either. For this poor girl, life on the farm was a lonely existence.
The patch of land that the Hinglots had purchased was pretty small but it would have to do. Money was tight and they couldn’t afford anything bigger nor did they have the manpower to work in the fields. Mr. Hinglot had grown up on a farm and was quite familiar with what needed to be done. The farm he grew up on was even smaller than the one he now owned. It would be a challenge, but it was one that he was ready for. He needed the support of his friends and especially his family if they were to succeed under these difficult times.
Life was hard for many families in Poland during this era. They had to spend what little money they had on the necessities of life. Sometimes they weren’t able to even afford to put supper on the table and many families had to go to bed hungry. Such was life in Poland at that time. You did what you needed to do to survive. The Hinglots counted themselves blessed for at least having a roof over the heads while some of their friends had to seek refuge anywhere they could.
With so many mouths to feed, Mr. Hinglot main focus was to provide for his family. They grew up without having a pet. No cats, dogs, or even bunnies. They all loved animals but owning one under these circumstances was just not possible. For Mr. Hinglot, it was far more important that his family was healthy and well-cared for than it was to have an animal to look after. The kids all understood this but it was particularly difficult for the second youngest child Johanna.
She absolutely loved animals as she would always leave table scraps and water out for the stray cats in their old neighbourhood. She would feed bread crumbs to the birds and give them all names. Her dream was to one day have her very own pet that she could love and take care of. But that dream had to be put on hold as the family was dealing with trying to make their farm viable.
Her parents kept telling her that one day, when the family was doing better financially, that she would be able to get a dog or a cat. Even though she was only 10 years old, Johanna understood that it wouldn’t be right to get an animal if her family couldn’t afford to look after it. It wouldn’t be fair to them and especially to the animal. Yet, she still desperately wanted a furry friend to call her own.
Growing up in a house with six sisters and a brother, Johanna didn’t really have much privacy on the farm. She would walk to the barn and have conversations with the chickens or the cows. She would talk to them as if they were people in a language that only she and the animals could understand.
Johanna was lonely as well. She had a big family but her sisters were older than she was and they didn’t have much in common. Then there was her younger brother Albert, who everyone called “Junior”. He was the baby of the family and Johanna spent most of her free time looking after him when everyone else was busy. She didn’t really have anyone that she could talk to.
One special evening, when she was about to lock the barn for the night, Johanna felt a wet nose pressed against her hand. She turned around to see the big brown eyes of the little cow looking at her. Johanna instantly fell in love with the cow’s sweet face and threw her arms around her kissing the calf on the head and nose. The cow then licked Johanna’s cheek and nuzzled up against her. The kiss was wet and kind of yucky but it made Johanna giggle. She scratched the little cow behind her ears and pet her on the head. A new friendship had been formed this night
If it were up to Johanna, she would’ve spent the night sleeping on the hay in the barn. Just as she was about to lay down next to the cow she heard her Mom yelling,
“Johanna! Where are you? It’s time for bed!”
Johanna gave her new friend one last kiss on the nose and skipped back to the house singing and smiling the entire way.
With each passing day, Johanna and her cow grew closer and closer. The cow, who she named Bessie, followed Johanna around like a lost puppy dog. At first, Johanna’s parents didn’t really approve of all of the time that she spent with the cow. But she was doing all of her chores and helping around the house, so they let her continue laughing and playing with Bessie.
Johanna seemed to spending all of her free time with Bessie. This made her siblings curious and soon they wanted to be a part of this wonderful relationship. They would talk sweetly to Bessie, pet her, and give her kisses but it was Johanna that was her favourite. She would walk away from the other girls and stand by her best friend. This made Johanna so happy.
On many occasions, Johanna would lie next to Bessie on a bed of hay as the two would take afternoon naps together. Johanna would talk to Bessie as if she were a real person. They would have c
onversations and the cow would listen to every word coming from Johanna’s mouth. Either the cow understood Polish or she just loved the sound of her friend’s voice. During the harsh, bitter Polish winter, Johanna would bring Bessie a blanket to keep her warm. Even on the coldest mornings, Johanna would be in the barn or outside with her cow while she grazed in the field.
Despite the budding relationship between Johanna and Bessie, the other cows still wouldn’t accept the young cow into their group. Johanna never missed an opportunity to spend time with her cow. The only times she wasn’t with Bessie was when she was helping clean the house, looking after brother, or when she got sick. Even then Johanna tried to sneak out to the barn to see Bessie but was intercepted by her parents who scolded her for running to the barn with bare feet.
Nobody seemed to really understand how or why these two became so close. Word spread around the village of the young girl’s unique friendship with her cow.
