Adams Co., Indiana — To say Memphis Luginbill, 18, and Cooper Steele, 17, are good friends would be an understatement.
“Cooper is helping me make my dream come true,” Memphis remarked. “I waited all my life for this.”
They met a few years ago and formed an instant friendship.
“I have been looking for Cooper every day at school since we started conversing. He’s a great friend.
“You never know what’s gonna come out of his mouth most of the time,” Cooper told me. “He’s really fun to be around, and he works really hard with his calf.”
Memphis claims Cerebral Palsy has taken away many of his liberties, but he has always wanted to raise a calf to show at the Adams County Fair. Cooper helped make it happen this year by lending his friend his nearly four-month-old starter calf, Ferdinand, for the county fair’s lightweight beginner calf show.
Memphis has been coming to Cooper’s farm every day to help care for Ferdinand and practice showing him. Cooper assists him in whatever way he can.
“With his wheelchair, I had to make a bracket and a bar for the calf to be able to walk beside the chair,” Cooper told me.
“He’s been feeding it and walking it around and everything,” she claimed.
All of this helps Memphis focus on his displaying skills, such as where to go as the show advances, where to find the judge, and how to shake his hand. Memphis said working with Cooper and Ferdinand taught him a lot more.
“[Raising Ferdinand] teaches you how to work and how to create bonds with friends,” Memphis told me. “I feel like it’s made our friendship grow.”
The duo demonstrates the importance of friendship in both good and difficult times.
“Memphis obviously has some bad days every once in a while,” Cooper told the crowd.
“[It was because] I couldn’t do the stuff, Cooper was doing.”
“There’s been a couple times where he’s talked about not wanting to show his calf and I told him that wasn’t an option,” Cooper recalled. “He’s grown a lot and within the last couple weeks, he’s really been hammered down and he’s ready to hit the show ring today.”
“Cooper says, ‘It’s okay. Memphis said, “That’s why we’re here, to help.”
Memphis said his goal for the day was to have fun, but he got more than he expected. His and Cooper’s hard work paid off, as Memphis finished first in his division on Monday and was crowned Reserve Champion of the whole Starter Calf Division.
Cooper has also won several ribbons, including grand champion in the dairy steer division, two-class winner of dairy steer starting calves, and one champion in the lightweight division.
