LA VERNIA, Texas _ Six-year-old Ryland Ward jumps down from his uncle Michael's lap and bounds across the job site.
There's chocolate ice cream, he's heard, his favorite.
Climbing onto the minitractor parked in front of the house, Ryland holds the carton in his good hand and gnaws at the lid. He's intent on opening it himself, but as chocolate begins to seep out the sides, he hands it to Michael, who peels open the lid for him.
Feet dangling off the little machine, Ryland finally digs in.
His left knee is locked in place, inches below where a bullet entered his upper thigh. The arm on that side bends just halfway, wrapped in a medical sleeve that supports his shattered elbow. From his belly hangs a colostomy bag.
Thursday marks five months since the shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. The anniversary is going unmarked here at the Ward family home. Ryland's dad isn't ready to look back on what he's lost.
But he knows what he's looking forward to.
"Starting over, I guess," Chris Ward says, tilting his black cowboy hat against the midday sun. "Trying to."
