Ruth's Story
| Providing the gift of independence & love… one dog at a time® |
Since I was a very small girl I've been praying to God begging for healing. I asked God to make me a "normal girl". I asked him to let me
dance, run, ride bikes, fall in love, have children. I kept asking him through the years to strengthen my legs and make me walk straight
and beautifully. I spent the years in my twenties and thirties running around from meeting to meeting, church to church looking for that
"magic" healing guy who would lay hands on me and bring my miracle. I've been anointed countless times with oil, I've been prayed for
millions of times. Although most of my prayers were answered I never saw that magic healing I was looking for.
On my first night in the hotel at team training I was praying asking for God's strength to get me through the next months with grace. God
answered my prayer with the words of a Kenny Loggins song. The title of the song is "This is It" and it goes like this:
For once in your life, here's your miracle
Stand up and fight
This is it
Make no mistake where you are
This is it
You're going no further
This is it
Until it's over and done
No one can tell you what you know
Who makes the choice of how it goes
It's not up to me this time
You know
There comes a day in every life
This is it
Make no mistake where you are
This is it
You're going no further
This is it
Until it's over and done
This is it
One way or another
This is it
No one can tell what the future holds
This is it
Your back's to the corner
This is it
You make the choice of how it goes
This is it
The waiting is over
This is it
Carol, Ross is my miracle. I knew it in my soul the first time he kept me from falling. I knew it again when I climbed those steps to the
theater. I knew it yet again when I could tell the Southwest Airlines attendants that I could walk down the jetway into the plane without
assistance. I continue to recognize it each time Ross pulls me out of a chair or checks in with me to see why the harness is shaking.
The miracle didn't come in the way I expected it would. I didn't feel a surge of divine power coarsing through my body, there was no
preacher with special healing power, it wasn't instant. The miracle looks like a gentle giant of a black poodle who has the most velvety
snout I've ever touched and the most beautiful fluffly ears that wipe my tears. My miracle would sooner play with a squeaky ball then
eat. Sometimes my miracle doesn't want to be a miracle at all. He just wants to be a dog. The work is ongoing, sometimes painful, but
this is my miracle and I won't let go.
Thank you. The work of you and your staff is not lost on me. I'm very aware of what you do and the lengths you go to to accomplish
this work. Ross and I will not be one of your regrets, that I promise you.
Have a good day. Ross and I need to go stand up and fight for our miracle now.
Love,
Ruth
Update: December 2006
There are so many good things happening with Ross. His "brace" has been an absolute lifesaver to me. Out of all the things I asked
for in a service dog, that is the one thing I thought I wouldn't need very much, but it turns out that I use that more than the retrieves or
anything else. We are singing in Masterworks Chorus, the community chorus at Modesto Junior College. Ross has now learned to be a
part of the choir, and to lay quietly next to me when the people around are dancing, singing, moving and directing. I haven't actually
used him during the performances yet, simply because the director and I felt that the audience would be too distracted by him, but he
helps me at every single practice and rehearsal.
Every week I walk up with everyone else to receive Communion. People ask me, "Why do you do it? Why don't you just let the servers
bring it to you?" They just don't understand what a great feeling it gives me to do this on my own. Sunday at breakfast I tripped on a
tarp that was covering the floor. If it wasn't for Ross' instant brace, I would have fallen flat on my face. When we finally got seated, I
threw my arms around him and kissed him. I don't know how I lived without him Carol. I know I've told you before, but thank you so
much. Ross' health is good. His weight is up to 54.4 pounds now. My husband figured out that Ross responds to the odor of his food.
So if you put just a dash of oregano, or a little dash of some other spice on the top of his food, he eats it all up.
I am doing okay. I fight the same battles I always fight. The important thing is that I'm winning, and I'm still up on my feet "gimping
around" as the doctor puts it.
Blessings to you, and in case you didn't catch it the first time, THANK YOU FOR MY SERVICE DOG.
May you be filled with happiness and blessing this Christmas.
Love,
Ruth
dance, run, ride bikes, fall in love, have children. I kept asking him through the years to strengthen my legs and make me walk straight
and beautifully. I spent the years in my twenties and thirties running around from meeting to meeting, church to church looking for that
"magic" healing guy who would lay hands on me and bring my miracle. I've been anointed countless times with oil, I've been prayed for
millions of times. Although most of my prayers were answered I never saw that magic healing I was looking for.
On my first night in the hotel at team training I was praying asking for God's strength to get me through the next months with grace. God
answered my prayer with the words of a Kenny Loggins song. The title of the song is "This is It" and it goes like this:
For once in your life, here's your miracle
Stand up and fight
This is it
Make no mistake where you are
This is it
You're going no further
This is it
Until it's over and done
No one can tell you what you know
Who makes the choice of how it goes
It's not up to me this time
You know
There comes a day in every life
This is it
Make no mistake where you are
This is it
You're going no further
This is it
Until it's over and done
This is it
One way or another
This is it
No one can tell what the future holds
This is it
Your back's to the corner
This is it
You make the choice of how it goes
This is it
The waiting is over
This is it
Carol, Ross is my miracle. I knew it in my soul the first time he kept me from falling. I knew it again when I climbed those steps to the
theater. I knew it yet again when I could tell the Southwest Airlines attendants that I could walk down the jetway into the plane without
assistance. I continue to recognize it each time Ross pulls me out of a chair or checks in with me to see why the harness is shaking.
The miracle didn't come in the way I expected it would. I didn't feel a surge of divine power coarsing through my body, there was no
preacher with special healing power, it wasn't instant. The miracle looks like a gentle giant of a black poodle who has the most velvety
snout I've ever touched and the most beautiful fluffly ears that wipe my tears. My miracle would sooner play with a squeaky ball then
eat. Sometimes my miracle doesn't want to be a miracle at all. He just wants to be a dog. The work is ongoing, sometimes painful, but
this is my miracle and I won't let go.
Thank you. The work of you and your staff is not lost on me. I'm very aware of what you do and the lengths you go to to accomplish
this work. Ross and I will not be one of your regrets, that I promise you.
Have a good day. Ross and I need to go stand up and fight for our miracle now.
Love,
Ruth
Update: December 2006
There are so many good things happening with Ross. His "brace" has been an absolute lifesaver to me. Out of all the things I asked
for in a service dog, that is the one thing I thought I wouldn't need very much, but it turns out that I use that more than the retrieves or
anything else. We are singing in Masterworks Chorus, the community chorus at Modesto Junior College. Ross has now learned to be a
part of the choir, and to lay quietly next to me when the people around are dancing, singing, moving and directing. I haven't actually
used him during the performances yet, simply because the director and I felt that the audience would be too distracted by him, but he
helps me at every single practice and rehearsal.
Every week I walk up with everyone else to receive Communion. People ask me, "Why do you do it? Why don't you just let the servers
bring it to you?" They just don't understand what a great feeling it gives me to do this on my own. Sunday at breakfast I tripped on a
tarp that was covering the floor. If it wasn't for Ross' instant brace, I would have fallen flat on my face. When we finally got seated, I
threw my arms around him and kissed him. I don't know how I lived without him Carol. I know I've told you before, but thank you so
much. Ross' health is good. His weight is up to 54.4 pounds now. My husband figured out that Ross responds to the odor of his food.
So if you put just a dash of oregano, or a little dash of some other spice on the top of his food, he eats it all up.
I am doing okay. I fight the same battles I always fight. The important thing is that I'm winning, and I'm still up on my feet "gimping
around" as the doctor puts it.
Blessings to you, and in case you didn't catch it the first time, THANK YOU FOR MY SERVICE DOG.
May you be filled with happiness and blessing this Christmas.
Love,
Ruth
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