March 2nd, 2009 One Year!

Hello, Friends!

It’s been a while so today seemed like the perfect time to update Garrett’s blog. Exactly one year ago today, we received a blessing that words cannot describe. Thank you for hanging in there with us.

The past several months have raced by so quickly. In January, Garrett received a “Western Wishes” wish. They are the cowboy answer to “Make A Wish Foundation”. The whole family was treated to a weekend at the Denver Stock Show and Rodeo, where Garrett and Jessi hung out with many of the top cowboys in world. Garrett made new friends, and was given a special gift by the young man who won the Free Style Bull Fighting event…his championship buckle! It was an incredible weekend, to be sure. The fact that so many people are still reaching out to him, reminds us how truly blessed we are.

Yesterday, we had a small gathering of folks to celebrate our 1st year with our new boy. In perfect Ross family style, it could not go quietly. Just as we were packing the car to head to the event, I heard Garrett scream for “daddy”. The tone of his voice told me something was terribly wrong.

He had been in the yard playing ball with a friend (baseball tryouts were Saturday). He was throwing the ball in the air, and hitting it with a bat. Enter a yearling puppy named “Stella”. She is a 13 pound terrier, given to Jessi and Garrett as a gift by one of his nurses. Stella went for the ball just as Garrett swung. When I arrived, Stella was not breathing and in complete seizure. I gave her a quick rib rub, which caused her to start breathing. After quickly checking for, and finding no obvious broken bones, I carried her unresponsive body to a good friend’s waiting pick up. He had just pulled in. We made a mad dash to the 24 hour urgent vet care where after 24 hours and plenty of IV meds, she was able to come home with a whopper of a headache.

Last night, Kathy and I had to realize that though the day had been traumatic, (Garrett was sure he’d killed his dog…and nearly did) we realized that God gave us another blessing. One year ago, we had been praying for Him to save our boy. This year at the exact same time, we were praying He’d save a dog. We’ve come a LONG way!

Garrett told me later that he’d run off to the barn and knelt in a stall, asking Jesus to save his puppy. I guess Jesus really does love the prayers of a child. Today, you can’t hardly tell she’d been whacked.

We’ll write more soon, I promise, but I had to take this opportunity to let you all know that Garrett is doing great physically. We still awake every day victorious, and still finish every night on our knees thanking Him for one more day. Only now we do it with a dog who's worth about $30.00 a pound since yesterday.

God Bless you all.

JD