Grace for Grant

Grant Gossling fought Stage 4 Neuroblastoma and multiple relapses over 2 years. Grant passed away on 3/28/2016 at the age of 4 after a hard fought battle.

Mail cards or gifts to:
Grace for Grant
4260 Communications Drive
Norcross, GA 30093

Donations can be made to the Granting Grace Foundation for Childhood Cancer (www.grantinggracefoundation.org) in honor of Grant. Mailing address is the same as above in Norcross, GA. Grant Michael Gossling entered this world on November 2, 2011, as the fourth child to Michael and June Gossling. Grant passed f

rom this world in his parents arms on March 28th, 2016, and he is now healed and resting in the arms of Jesus. Grant was a light to all who knew him; always showing off his mischievous smile, wanting to crawl or climb on whomever was near, and often found shooting Spidey webs at the nearest victim. Amongst Grant's favorite things were Spiderman, Lightning McQueen, Paw Patrol, and anything Minion. He cherished siblings Sarah, Sydney, James and little brother Hudson, and they adored their little "Monkey" more than words can express. For almost half of Grant's life, he battled Neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer. Grant fought the beast of cancer as he did everything in life, always unique, never following the expected path, beyond courageous he surpassed all medical expectations. He fought with a smile and childlike faith that left an everlasting impact on all those that met him; from nurses, doctors, fellow warriors, and all those following his journey on Facebook at Grace for Grant. Despite Grant's medical war, he squeezed in more life than most adults, from seeing the whales off of Alaska, to beaches spanning from the Caribbean to the South East, he loved his trips to Disney, and even skied the mountains of Wyoming; he saw and experienced some of God's greatest creations. Grant is survived by parents, Michael and June Gossling; siblings, Sarah, Sydney, James, and Hudson; maternal grandparents, Arnold and Lori Isley; paternal grandparents, Jim and Sheree Gossling; maternal great grandmother, Rebecca Isley; and many loved aunts, uncles, and cousins. He leaves behind a hole in our hearts that only will be filled once we meet again in eternity. The mantra we have held for so long for Grant continues to hold true:
One step at a time, one prayer at a time. . The Service Celebrating the Life of Grant Michael Gossling will be held Saturday, April 2, 2016, at 11:00 A.M. at Hebron Baptist Church, 202 Hebron Church Rd., Dacula, GA 30019 (770-962-3671) with Pastor Peter O’Neill of Cornerstone Bible Church, Lilburn, GA, officiating. The family will receive friends from 9:00 A.M. till 10:45 A.M. on Saturday at Hebron before the hour of the service. The family request that all who are coming to the service to wear Grace for Grant Shirts or any Marvel Super Hero Shirts. Grant’s favorite colors were red and blue. A balloon release will be done after the service at the church. In lieu of flowers or anything else, it is the family’s request that you make a donation to Grant’s Foundation, the Granting Grace Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. Flowers are nice, but they don’t last. Your donation could make the difference to save the life of a child battling cancer in the future. Grant’s life will live on in his foundation and we vow to never give up Grant’s wish of curing cancer. www.grantinggracefoundation.org.

08/25/2025

Childhood Cancer Awareness month is kicking off a little early! Grant is part of the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer 47 Faces Campaign in honor of the 47 children diagnosed each day in the US with cancer. You have an opportunity to purchase a Grace for Grant t-shirt again through this campaign!
https://fundraise.rallyfoundation.org/campaign/700877/donate?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAafeKho1YSxeWedXJpG-OHHE7H9wYWTgXKIOvtN5kvMFXGZJvhyR3uU-fnH1wQ_aem_p8XOIdV59iUxyNGQCQ5cnQ

07/24/2025

Join us on Friday, July 25th at 2:00 for a matching hour on the WSB Care-A-Thon (95.5 in Atlanta) raising funds for the Aflac Cancer Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. We will have all the kids with us as we share Grant's story and why this hospital means so to us! Help make a difference by donating during our hour!!

03/28/2025

9 Years ago today we held you in our arms as God healed you and took you home.

11/28/2024

It is a windy but warm morning here, the chimes in Grant's garden are mixed with the sound of falling leaves being swept across the ground. Hudson commented that the leaves were falling so much it looked like leaf snow outside and that he really hopes it snows this year at the house. I know all the big kids are still sleeping and with a late lunch at our house it gives me time to sit here in the swing with Grant while I have my coffee and listen.

Watching all these leaves as they fill the air and dance up and down across empty space above the pond, I see memories, I see my hopes, dreams, expectations, moments of laughter, screams, moments of joy and sweetness. From this distance you can't tell if it is a beautiful yellow leaf or a crumpled up brown one, they all fall, they are all mesmerizing. I'm not sure Lord what you have for me today sitting here. Maybe continuing to teach me to hold it all, on a day that is supposed to be gratitude, You are reminding me that when you hold it all, all the good, all the bad, everything, picking it apart doesn't matter, from a distance it makes something beautiful. The refinement, the falling of leaves in this season, in this life is growing something beautiful, if not in our lives, in the lives of the next generation and the ones after that.

This wind, the Lord's breath carrying it all away, I hear the screams of another parent calling on Thanksgiving morning that their baby did not wake up, I hear my grandmother's chuckle announcing "Supper's ready," I smell the comfort of ovens full of Thanksgiving traditions, I hear the giggles and laughter of my babies playing in a leaf pile. . . let it fall, He is carrying it, the chaos, the unsurity, He uses it all, it takes all of it for Him to grow it into something beautiful.

Going back to my babies, time for cooking and setting the table, time for another season of memories. Continuing to say "I see you," in the hardest of hards or the sweetest of joys, may you have courage to step away for a moment to yourself to watch the leaves fall, may you have time to listen to the Lord whisper through the wind, may you feel Him offering your heart peace and comfort today.

10/25/2024

Thought you would all enjoy this photo from the UGA vs Mississippi State football game. We had an opportunity to be honored on the field at halftime as a family and it isn't our entire family without Grant with us. We are so thankful The University of Georgia Football Organization had our sweet boy up on the big screen to be included. It was great to celebrate a Dawgs Win with this special memory!

06/20/2024

After all the heavy on Tuesday, I thought you all might enjoy some happy from yesterday!

06/19/2024

Ten years. When you say it out loud, a decade, that seems like a very significant chunk of time. Everyone in the cancer community talks about life BC and AC, "before cancer" and "after cancer". Ten years ago today we woke up not knowing it would be our last as a before cancer family. By afternoon I was with Grant at the hospital, Michael meeting us there in the ER, by evening we had to call family to arrange the other kids to be watched and overnight bags brought to us, we were checked into a room in the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and by the next day we had heard the definitive words "your child has cancer."

We pass June 18th every year, but this one, the ten year mark, it has been a doozy. I've included some pictures of Grant right before diagnosis, of our trip to the beach the week of Memorial Day, of an Easter egg hunt, of fishing with Dad and James in the pond, of the joy of almost two weeks of snow on the ground that winter, Grant's love of Spidey and Cars . . . Life was innocently beautiful, our problems and frustrations were truly nothing, God was working in us and so much hope seemed on the horizon. June 18th, 2014, we were thrust into the world of true unknown, of fear, of no control it seemed. Our lives were forever shifted into a place of being shattered.

Navigating trying to protect your children's hearts during your own time of crisis isn't easy, all our children have unfortunately experienced so much trauma that started with this day. And I know this can all sound like defeat, and there is very much deep, deep grief and sadness filling today. Our lives were shattering as we knew them, but God did not leave us that way.

We are wiser now, and have eyes to see that even in this, God is still good. There was joy this spring being back on that same beach from ten years ago, there was so much laughter on a Disney cruise with our kids this past week. This day shifted our perspective forever and I don't know honestly if we would truly know love, and the love of God as deeply as we do now without having experienced that horrible shift that decade ago. This is NOT saying any of it was ok, it isn't, it is horrific and we desperately wish Grant was with us, this is honoring the good that can come despite tragedy and true hard times. With God, anything is truly possible, we were shattered but He was remaking us.

Michael and I started today in NC, visiting my uncle, his home, it was also my grandmother's home. It was a place of innocence for me, a place of safety, of comfort, and simple childhood joy - playing with a tub of buttons from her sewing room and making "button weddings" with my sisters as each button turned into a character, making grape juice from her grape vines, eating all her amazing cooking, making Violet bracelets, chasing baby bunnies. Her loss not even 2 years after Grant, another end of loss of innocence in my life. My day today seemed narrated by the Nostalgia character from Inside Out 2. Sitting at my grandmother's grave as we left today I had a good cry, then I came home to sit here with Grant, in his garden, to write this. I can hear my grandmother's giggle "I'm so tickled" she would say, I can feel the warmth of her hug and know she is embracing my boy on a day that pierces my heart so much. I think God orchestrated my time with her today, grieving with her there was comfort for me too.

What do you do when life takes a shattering turn? When you face something that you never fathomed you would ever face? I thought, and for much after this, that true safety, that joy, would just be a fleeting thing for my life. . . But God continues to work in me and the depth of love now, the moments of joy and appreciation for them now, they are so deep and powerful only because of the deep sorrow from days like today. We are all still healing, no holding of shame for the time it takes to heal, it is a path that is constant for our family. There is no hate for today, the hard of it all I know is good to hold as just part of us, part of our story, a reminder that we can't control it all, to let things go, to fight for the joy, fight for the relationship, we are all living fleeting lives, spend them loving well, it can change in an instant.

06/17/2024

Wishing Michael and all the other cancer dads out there a Happy Father's Day! I know dads' experiences are different in the battle than moms - they are the fixers of the family, the ones that take care of it all, the ones that are supposed to be strong in times of crisis. . . God has His way of shaping them in the battle, it isn't always pretty in the path it takes, but the other side can be beautiful. You can't control cancer, you really can't fix it, the toll it takes on your child, your wife, your other children, your identity as a provider, your concept of strength, of vulnerability, of what it looks like to gain friendships with other men going through crisis, cancer turns you and your world upside down. To the dads, we see you, we see the struggles and we see the victories. We see the ache that is bereavement. Honoring the laughter today, the joys, and the journey. Michael, I am so thankful to walk this road of parenting our five amazing children with you!

06/10/2024

9 years ago 😳. Ringing the bell, his one and only after finishing radiation. Each session was followed by a stop at CFA for the nuggets with "bread" - chick-n-minis and some sweet tea. Nearing the ten year mark of diagnosis next week. It has gone by so quickly and yet forever. We are so thankful Grant's presence is constant and that there are so many people continuously speaking his name. I'll save the deep reflection for another day, just thinking of the joy this little boy brought to us all the time.

01/15/2024

Fifteen-year-old Alexis McRae's application for the Katie Beckett Medicaid insurance waiver was denied, putting her life at risk - until Gov. Brian Kemp stepped in.

12/29/2023

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I went out on our porch to write something this morning, bundled up with my coffee, Bible, notebook, and phone, I lasted almost two hours and then the wind bringing in the freezing temperatures sent me inside, my fingers were too cold to type! God was putting on my heart the word perspective and the image of wings. We always comment that cancer gives you the greatest perspective on life but in the worst possible way - meaning we wish everyone could have the perspective of life it gives you but we wouldn't wish the journey on anyone. As I started to look at pictures from the year and all our travels I noticed how many of our pictures were from high places. How we love the perspective from above, the vastness of the world below us, the awe it leaves you in, how it makes anything in life, our problems, our selfishness, our worries, they disappear in the moments you sit on the edge with a chasm below. I am not fond of heights but yet I love the views they give you.

How we think we always have to reach the top in life, thinking the pause it gives us will bring us all the joy, if we can only get to the High Places. You probably think of Isaiah 40:31 "But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength, They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary They shall walk and not be faint." You can feel the power can't you? Soaring like an eagle to the high places, the wind, the view, the carefree joy. I used to want only this image, I didn't understand it fully, my perspective on wings in the Bible was this image, this is what I wanted. When cancer entered our life and I suddenly felt more like I had been turned into Scuttles from the Little Mermaid than an eagle, well God so mercifully let another perspective enter our life. Psalm 56 "How precious is Your loving kindness O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings" in 57:1 "And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge Until these calamities have passed by" back in 17:8 "Keep me as the apple of Your eye Hide me under the shadow of your wings." Darkness that we feared, that we thought meant abandonment and coldness, God offered the perspective of the darkness as just the shadows of being under His wings, protected, warm, comforting.

Combine the soaring and the shadows and you have Moses on Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 "And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountains saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to Myself.' " He gathers, He carries, He shows us how to soar, He shows us the bigger picture that only with His help can we see, then He pulls us in close, and under His wings we find rest.

In nature I always feel close to the Lord. I love the silence of the snow on our ski trips, we found joy climbing rocks across the desert in Moab, star gazing in the darkness. We sat on the water's edge and soaked up the calming rhythm of the ocean. Celebrating Sarah's graduation we headed to Europe where views were cliff tops on the coast and from wonders like the Eiffel Tower. There was joy and adventure but it was honestly also a really hard year. We stumbled, sometimes a lot, perspective muddled or hard to hold onto. But God's mercy always prevails. Walking in Pompeii this summer, I was captivated by the flowers growing in the ruins, the ultimate beauty from the ashes perspective, God is continuing to call me to remembrance. Calling me to see Him and His perspective in this reflection back, to remind me of the joy of the soaring and the strength He can give us but also to remind me He is carrying me to pull me in, to gather me close to Him. There is never just ruins in our lives, what we try to bury and forget, it will never stay buried, God will allow it to surface - and like that city once buried in ash in a day of darkness, uncovered now, allowing others to see it, explore it, KNOW it, we learn, we sit in awe, and we cherish the flowers growing, we see the beauty that remains.

In the ups and downs of the year we celebrated Sarah graduating high school and starting her journey to be an oncology nurse. The boys played baseball and football, Michael and James floated down the river in Montana on a fishing trip and went on their annual pheasant hunting trip with the Gossling men and friends. We attended a lot of UGA football games and loved celebrating a second National Championship. Sydney is leaning into her gift of art and continues to amaze us with her talent. We spent Christmas with a sick household but still squeezed in a trip to Disney with family and friends. We adventured. Grant showed up so much this fall that left us grateful and yet also full of grief. We have been blessed with continuing to tell his story, God surprised us in a lot of ways so that Grant can continue to shine even all these years later. When I didn't want to talk to God, He often used someone else and a surprise of Grant to let me know He was still there, still beside us, patiently waiting, constantly pursuing. Even in the Disney trip full of illness and somewhat unmet expectations - we had a moment of dancing in the rain, of Grant and perspective. We made it through and I want to look back with gratitude and look forward with hope, praying the same for all of you!

Wishing you all a blessed New Year! One step at a time one prayer at a time.

Address

Lawrenceville, GA

Website

http://www.grantinggracefoundation.org/

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