Resslin' Around by Casey Ressler

Stories that stick with you

During the course of doing my job, I run into extremely interesting people, I get to see things I normally wouldn't get to see, and I get to hear interesting stories. It's a great job -- but sometimes, it is hard.

On Tuesday, I spent the afternoon with the Gonski family, whose daughter, Meghan, is fighting cystic fibrosis and awaiting a living lobar transplant (lung). Meghan is 14, has lost her hearing to the side effects of a medication she has to take, and struggles not only for breath, but also for a normal childhood.

I was amazed at how strong the family was -- from Meghan to parents Jim and Pat. They opened their home to me, which I don't know if I could do if I were in their shoes. They talked openly about the future, and what it holds for their daughter and their family -- and some times, the future can be scary.

My heart ached for the family and what they are going through. It still does.

Two years ago, I did a story on another cystic fibrosis sufferer, Brianna Gregory, who was 10 at the time. She was being granted a Wish Upon the North Star wish, and I was there to take some photographs of the little girl getting into the limo to go shopping. It was a fun time for her, clearly.

I thought about her off and on as the months went by. For some reasons, stories like these stick with me, and I often find myself revisiting them mentally as the months go by. Then, in June of last year, I received a call from her mother.

Brianna had passed away.

That news hit me hard -- harder than I ever expected it would. Working at a newspaper, you kind of get used to bad news and you get a bit jaded about things, I guess. Every day, there are several obituaries in the paper, but for some reason, Brianna's felt a lot more personal to me than any others.

Other than the day I spent with them, I didn't know Brianna's family. But still, they opened up and let me tell their story to the rest of the world, and for that I was not only appreciative, but also felt like I got to know them.

I felt the same way talking to the Gonski family last week.

They are awaiting a living transplant, and are hoping that once a donor is identified, a transplant can take place and Meghan can get on with being a kid again.

Meghan Gonski is a battler, and she isn't going to give up until she gets a new set of lungs. I can't wait for the day when her parents give me a call and tell me about how she can play her flute again, how she can go horseback riding, how she is running around on the soccer field like she did before cystic fibrosis took her breath.

It will be one of the best follow-up stories I've ever done -- that much is a promise.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor.