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February 10th 2012 is a day I will never forget.
I could tell by the dropped eyes, white complexion, that something was wrong. I hardly felt any pain two days earlier after my snowmobile wreck, but somehow I knew this was serious.
My Family doctor sat me down and blurted out, “Keith, you have cancer, and what appears to be quite advanced. You need to see these specialists immediately. We’ve set up the appointments.”
Shock, denial, depression, anger, and 2 weeks later and I’m starting the first of 10-weeks-straight of radiation treatment.
During this time I was blessed to meet a wonderful 12-year-old boy named Robert. Our treatment times overlapped quite a few times that first eight weeks, so we kind of got to know each other. Many times during our visit, we talked of what we would do for fun after treatment.
Robert was excited that his family was going to Disneyland. When he inquired as to my plans, I informed him I was going to the family ranch and play cowboy. Over the next several weeks every time I visited with Robert he would inquire as to what “playing cowboy” entailed. We visited of riding horses, shooting guns, rustling cattle, and all the little chores necessary to run a ranch.
Over the next two weeks I did not see Robert and just assumed he had completed his treatments. Then one day his mother came walking into the patient waiting area with no Robert in tow. She sat down and informed me how grateful she was for the time I spent with Robert, and that he had passed away 10 days earlier.
She then melted my heart by saying that I should know it was Robert’s wishes to go to the ranch with Keith and play “cowboy” instead of going to Disneyland, and he had sent her to see if it was ok? I cried completely through that treatment and the entire drive home.
Over the next 30 days, I could not get Robert out of my head, and that’s when it hit me. We already had most of the resources available to make a dream such as Robert’s come true for other children.
”Kids, Cancer, and Cowboys” was born!
Our mission is to offer a western/cowboy experience for children suffering with, or in remission of, cancer. They and up to 9 family members and friends will be our guests for six days in the middle of the Colorado Rocky Mountains in a restored historic lodge frequented by Teddy Roosevelt and his son, Teddy Jr., learning of life on a ranch in the early 1900’s.
It is our goal to let these children and families have the opportunity to forget about cancer, if only for a few days. To learn that it’s entirely possible to “live” with cancer and accomplish amazing things at the same time. To hopefully learn that fun can overpower fear!
Kids, Cancer, and Cowboys -- a place of healing, compassion, excitement. An experience that can touch your soul!
Keith Brennise,
President / Cancer patient
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