Mama Buttercup’s Marinara

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When I rescued Buttercup, she was in heartbreaking condition, no food, no water, no shelter. She had been used as a dairy cow, forcibly impregnated year after year, and each time, her babies were taken from her. I can’t begin to describe the sorrow in her eyes, knowing that she had cried for each one. 

Her milk was stolen for people to drink, and she was treated like nothing more than a machine. Despite all that pain, when she arrived at The Gentle Barn, Buttercup was gentle, grateful, and trusting. I was in awe of her strength and capacity to forgive.

Not long after bringing her home, Ellie and I found out she was in the final stages of pregnancy. We were overjoyed. After everything she had been through, we thought, this time would be different. This time, she would finally get to raise her baby in safety and love. 

But the years of trauma had taken their toll. Her calf was born small, weak, and underdeveloped. We did everything we could, but he only lived for seven months. Even in that short time, Buttercup was the most patient, loving mom. I remember the way she nurtured him, the way she told him it was okay when it was time to go and then she cried. We cried with her.

Buttercup’s heart didn’t break, it expanded. I learned so much from her. Determined to be a mom, she began adopting every orphaned calf we rescued. Over the years, she raised more than a dozen babies, loving them as if they were her own. She protected them, comforted them, taught them to trust, and helped them heal. She did the same for me. For all of us.

Buttercup wasn’t just a mother to calves, she was a mother to the whole Gentle Barn family. She held still for hugs, posed for pictures, and radiated love to everyone who came her way, human, bovine, or otherwise. When she passed away in her late teens, it was quick and peaceful, just like the great masters. I miss her every day. But her spirit lives on in every life she touched, and in every bite of this sauce, inspired by the love she so generously gave.