**DNA on File**

I still remember when I brought Cora home for the first time. I had found an ad for her and her daughter on Craigslist and they were only $100 each. The guy who had them had actually tried to talk me out of getting them and into purchasing some of his "better stock". I told him no, I want those ones. I later sold Cora's daughter (who I now suspect was a freemartin or hermaphrodite) but Cora had been here ever since.
 

Cora was my very first registered adult doe purchase. She gave me my first babies (and my first set of quints at that). She went on to give me a total of 14 kids in the last four years, finally succumbing to retirement this year at the age of 10. Cora gave me my first AI babies too. I had seen her in heat and after failing many times with several other does previously, decided hey what the heck let's try it. She settled on that single straw and graciously bestowed me with one of my favorite kid sets ever - a buck and a doe.
 

Cora has made me laugh many times over the years - she just had this incredibly quirky personality. She was nearly impossible to milk, hated getting her feet trimmed, fought almost every doe that tried to boss her around. She loved the boys - you could always tell when she was in heat by her voice, hoarse from screaming for who knows how long. She loved to sleep in the holes the dogs dug in the pasture and loved her horse cookies and being pet even when your hand was starting to cramp from scratching for so long.
 

My old lady may not have been special to most of you, but she was the beginning of my herd. She taught me more than I ever had thought a goat could. She made me so many beautiful babies, she made my heart happy. Even when she was being a grumpy old lady, I laughed and said that's just Cora.
 

I didn't think goodbye would come so soon. Maybe I am being greedy but four years with her was not enough time. She had been declining steadily over the last few weeks and yesterday I found her huddled in a corner of the shelter while the rest of the herd was out grazing. She had been doing that more and more lately. I decided then and there it was time. I couldn't be selfish and keep her like this.
 

It was supposed to rain today, but instead sunlight and blue skies broke through the clouds. Cora watched the world outside, occasionally resting her chin on my shoulder as I drove. I stayed with her when she succumbed to sleep and I stayed with her when she took her last breath. I will forever be grateful for her, forever grateful for every experience she gave me, forever grateful for all of her beautiful babies out there in the world. My heart might be broken but I know that she is finally at peace.