Amos Ross Updates

Dear Friends and Family,

You’re reading this because you have been a friend to us and to Amos over the course of the last five years of Amos’s cancer diagnosis and the unfolding journey. Whether our paths crossed through family connections, at Grove City College, in seminary at Westminster in Philadelphia, in Cambridge, England, in Orange County, California, or now Charlotte, NC, we are immensely grateful for the way that the Lord has spread His net of care for us far and wide through all of you. It has been such an encouragement to feel loved in so many different places.

And yet, there are some downsides to being scattered all over the world. Especially in moments like this where we would love nothing more than to be able to gather together and celebrate all that the Lord has done. It would be appropriate to marvel together — to remember together — to laugh and weep together! We keenly feel the absence of all of you who have played such an important role in our lives as we’ve walked through these very difficult things as a family. You have shared in our sorrows, our tears, our joys, and our burdens in immeasurable ways. We sincerely wish we could all be together!

Five Years ago on the 25th of June, I (Kelli) found myself in an emergency room in Orange County, CA with my Mom and Amos as we sought answers about our precious three year old. He’d been sick for about a week after we had arrived from England for what we thought would be three weeks of sitting on the beach. We were concerned that he was dehydrated and not improving. By the end of the day, the unthinkable was unfolding as we met with doctors about emergency brain surgery. The rest of the story is chronicled here on this blog but it’s been a wild ride and one where we’ve seen the Lord provide in amazing ways.

For Amos, medically speaking, this is only the halfway point to the milestone his doctors have their well trained eyes on. Ten years post diagnosis without any recurrence of cancer will be the best indication of Amos’s prognosis as he grows. Ten years with no recurrence is the goal: June 2025. We hope and pray to be given the chance to see ten years come — in 5 years time — and with a teenager Amos on our hands, no less!

But as the Five Year anniversary of Amos’s cancer diagnosis is here, we’ve been struggling to find ways to note this milestone across the many miles and now limitations of a global pandemic. Still, it feels important that we not let this pass unnoticed. That’s where you come in…

WOULD YOU HELP US?

Could you give us the gift of your remembrances, words of wisdom, encouragement, reflections, or prayers? My goal is to have a compilation of memories, stories, words of encouragement, photos, video messages, whatever you have, to put together into a keepsake for Amos and our family. It would be so special to have something when the TEN year mark rolls around (Lord willing!) that will help him, and us, to trace in more words than just ours, what this journey has contained and meant for so many. It’s easy to forget that while the events of the last five years stand out in my heart, they don’t in the same way for Amos. There’s much he doesn’t remember and won’t remember since he was only three years old when this all began. Your contributions would be a gift.

So, now to the task at hand:

Timeline: Our goal is to compile over the rest of this year, mirroring the space of time between now and Christmas Eve when Amos was undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.

Delivery: You can email, mail, or hand deliver! If you have our address, go ahead and send things there. If you need our address, please email us at amosrossupdates@gmail.com or leave a comment below with your email address and we’ll happily provide it to you!

In case it’s helpful, here are some prompts you could respond to:

• Reflect on your own interactions with Amos and memories of him during these last five years.
• Reflect on your own interactions with our family and memories or stories that would encourage or amuse.
• Your own reflections of how Amos’s journey has impacted your life.
• Words of encouragement for the next five years.
• Words of encouragement or memories for Luke, who’s been a hero in his own right as a brother and a helper all his life.

Thank you for walking this road with us! We are so thankful for you.

In Christ,

The Ross Family

Philippians 4:19

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.