In 1970 just before Labor Day weekend my dad asked me if I would do him a favor and go to the Oak Lawn Cemetery and clean the family gravesites for him. The caretaker that normally did this was ill and they were asking families to take care of this chore till he recovered.

I told Dad sure and took a rake, shovel, and a tarp to cover up whatever I put in my old pickup, a 51-jimmy half ton! 

I made it to the cemetery and looked the family graves over. There were a lot of leaves and twigs that had to be cleaned up from the oak trees that shaded this area. There was an old ornamental fence right behind the graves!

I went to work raking and loading the leaves into the truck, and it was warm that day. I finally got the section done and by now I had taken my shirt off and was hot and sweating so before I hauled the leaves and rubbish to the debris pile across the cemetery, I stood behind the plot leaning up against that old fence! There was a nice breeze blowing and it was shady!

I had my eyes closed and I don’t remember what I was thinking when all of a sudden, I felt something hot from my waist half way up my back scratching me and up behind my neck an ice cold circle on my back! Well I took off hollering and running and jumped into that pile of leaves in the back of my pickup. I can tell you who I thought was trying to get me!!!! 

But? It happened to be the biggest Holstein bull I had ever seen! And I never heard him even walk up to me on his side of the fence! All he wanted was a little salty water off my back!!! I even built up the courage to go over and rub his nose before I finished the cleanup chore and made a quick exit out of there!