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Dear Momma. I’m trying to remember you.

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You come to me in parts. Never the whole of
you at once. Just parts.

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Like your eyes. I remember your eyes. Those
impossibly big, round, sad eyes.

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The first thing I ever was those eyes. I opened
mine for the first time and met yours. I could

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see myself reflected back in those eyes. I
could see my own eyes, and my face, brand

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new and so small.

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And I could see them. I could see them coming.

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They came and they took me away.

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And that’s when I started forgetting you.

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Momma, I remember your tongue. As big as my
head, that tongue. So rough but so gentle.

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I was born slick and wet and you cleaned me
with that tongue. Or at least you started

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to. That tongue was the first thing I felt.
And it felt like love.

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And then I felt them. I felt their hands grab
me. Rough but not gentle. No love in those

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hands.

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I remember your smell, Momma. Warm and earthy.
My first breath was of you.

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But there were other smells. Filth and fear.
And them. I could smell them. Their scent

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overpowered yours. They took you from me in
more ways than one.

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The sound, Momma. I remember the sound of
you breathing. That was the first thing I

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heard, that breathing. Deep and steady. Measured
but labored.

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It seemed such a task, breathing. A low, rasping
hum, in and out. The whole of you expanding

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out and collapsing again. I could listen to
you forever.

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But then there was yelling. So loud, that
yelling. It hurt to hear it, Momma.

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And then they were there. The Takers. They’d
come for me with their loud yelling and their

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strong smells and their rough but not gentle
hands.

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They came and they took me, Momma and I started
to lose you.

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And now I don’t know where I am. It’s
small and dark and I can’t move. There’s

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something around my neck and it hurts. I can
hear others around me. They’re hurting too.

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We’re all hurting.
The Takers come sometimes with their rough

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not gentle hands and their yelling so loud
it hurts to hear. And they take again. They

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take some of us away. I don’t know where
they go.

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I’m trying hard not to forget you, Momma.
Please know I’m trying.

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---

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My dear child. I’ve lost you. They came
and they took you. It’s happened again and

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I can’t stop it.

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I carried you inside me, just like your brothers
and sisters before you. I could protect you

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then. I wanted to keep you there forever.

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But then you came. You came and you were beautiful
and you were mine. So small and brand new.

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So fragile.

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I cleaned you up for your new world. I tried
to keep you close and quiet. But they knew

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you’d come. They always know.

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I wanted to hide you back inside me and keep
you safe always, but they came, my child,

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the Takers came for you. They always come.

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My body’s so tired, my child. I couldn’t
fight them away. I tried the first time. And

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the next. And the next. And the next. And
the next. And on and on and on. And now, my

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child, I have nothing left.

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I’m empty again. And I’ve lost you. Again.
And soon they’ll try to fill me back up.

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But I’m so very tired.

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I cried for you, my child. I yelled your name
for days. Did you hear me? I wanted you to

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know I was here. I wanted you to find me.
But now I have no voice left. And you’re

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not here.

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You must be hungry, my child. I have milk
for you but they take it. Every day they take

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it.

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It hurts so bad. The cold, hard suction. I’m
swollen and aching. And I’m empty.

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What will I feed you when you come back?

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I have nothing left to give, my child. I’m
so sorry.

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They’ve taken everything. My children, my
milk, my fight, my life. The darkness is coming,

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my child. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.
Please know I tried.

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---

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Momma I’m tired. They’re coming again.
They’re coming and this time it’s for

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me.

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I see them, Momma, with their small cold eyes.
They’re coming.

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They take me again with their rough not gentle
hands. And I think of your warm tongue.

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I’m upside down, Momma. We all are. I smell
blood and fear. Something’s wrong.

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I’m moving, Momma. There are Takers all
around us. And the noise. It’s so loud.

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I can’t even hear my own scream.

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Can you hear me? They’re coming for me,
Momma.

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The Taker has something shiny. And there’s
blood. So much blood. I’m getting closer.

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And I can see myself, Momma, in the shine.
My own face, still so small and brand new.

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And I think of your impossibly big, sad eyes,
the first thing I ever saw.

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And then, Momma, and then…darkness.

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---

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This is the story of a dairy cow and her baby
sent to the veal industry. This is where your

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milk comes from. This is not an isolated incident.
For more information, please see the videos

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linked here as well as in the video description
below. You can find all the resources on the

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blog post for this video, which is linked
below in the description as well. Please like

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and share this video to help give a voice
to the mothers and children of the dairy industry

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and subscribe for more vegan content every
Monday, Wednesday and some Fridays. To support

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messages like this please see the support
links in the video description below, or click

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the text here or the link in the sidebar.
Now go live vegans, ditch the dairy, and I’ll

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see you soon.

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