First (and Last) FFA Show

After 6 of caring for and raising her 5 rabbits, Kaitlynn had learned so much about the animal raising process in FFA. As the days and weeks went on, she began to realize how hard it was going to be to say goodbye to these precious creatures that she had poured so much love into. She was struggling with feelings of guilt and sadness, and I'll be honest, I was really struggling with it myself. I've been a witness from afar to so many students who participate in the FFA animal raising, but I had never really thought about how difficult it must be to know you are sending your animal friends... well, to their death. As we got closer and closer to the rabbit show, those feelings welled up inside. On at least one occasion, I stood and looked outside our kitchen window at Kaitlynn's rabbits while I sobbed for those poor bunnies. Kaitlynn was feeling the same emotions and broke down at least once at the thought of saying goodbye. It was around this time that we both realized that veterinary medicine might not be the right field for Kaitlynn after all. It was just too emotional and painful for her to know that these innocent animals would be facing their death in the days to come, and this was just one aspect of the difficult job of veterinarians. While this was hard idea in the moment for her to process, it was such a valuable lesson that she learned to refocus her future path elsewhere. 

When mid-February rolled around, it was finally time to show off Kaitlynn's progress to the judges at the Katy ISD FFA Livestock Show. The rabbit show was held on a Thursday, and Kaitlynn was all dressed up and ready to show her rabbits as she had been taught. She and Jeff loaded up the bunnies in their travel cage, and they were off for the big event. She wasn't nervous, but Jeff and I were curious about the process and happy to attend the judging to learn what it was all about. 

Jeff tagged along with Kaitlynn and watched from the arena bleachers while the rabbit showers and judges got all set up. I barely made it in time to see Kaitlynn show her rabbits. We didn't have a clue about the process or what the judges were looking for, but I was mostly hoping her bunnies didn't hop around on the table, ha! From our vantage point, it looked like her 3 selected rabbits did well. We waited for a long time while the judges viewed all the rabbits and went from cage to cage giving feedback to the students. In the end, Kaitlynn's rabbits weren't chosen for the final event, which was a blessing considering we were about to hop a plane to Atlanta for her next cheer competition. We were thankful for the distraction of cheer, because it made things easier for Kaitlynn when she said her final goodbye to Rabbits #1 through #5. I'm so grateful she had this experience, and I loved the professional photos taken of her with her first (and last!) FFA Show.