Ronnie Mac aka The Ronald McDonald House

While Obadiah was in the hospital we had the privilege of staying at Ronnie Mac's place. ( aka the Ronald McDonald House ) The sign says "a home away from home" and let me tell you that is exactly what it was for us. We were there for 6 weeks, and it was a wonderful experience for us. The staff was so compassionate, friendly, and always helpful.

The house that we stayed in had 34 bedrooms and they were almost always full. It had a fully stocked kitchen. ( every room does have it's own cabinet in the kitchen and a box in the refrigerator that is yours) But the food in the rest of the kitchen is for everyone to use. Most nights someone brings dinner in for the residents. We were blessed many nights with these meals. Sometimes it was a company, sometimes it was a church group, and sometimes it was someone who had been blessed in one way or another by the Ronald McDonald House. Always it was appreciated.

We made many new friends while staying there. Some that we plan to stay in touch with for years to come. The thing about the families that are there is we're all there for the same reason, our children. So although the problems or conditions weren't the same there was still this understanding between the parents that only happens when going through something like that. Quite often you would here parents sitting around their tables talking about their child's progress or something good -or not so good- that a doctor had done. It was as though we were one large family, and in someways I suppose we were because what is family if it isn't a support network.

For us being able to be 3 minutes from the hospital was wonderful because unfortunately we got more than one phone call telling us that our son wasn't doing well and we should get there as soon as possible. Also the fact that our other kids-remember we have 6 others- were able to stay there was great. We could still be a family-in between hospital visits. We watched movies, played on the play ground, took walks, or visited with our new friends and the staff/volunteers.

Every room is assigned a chore (we had 2 chores because we had 2 rooms. The fire code said no more than 4 people could stay in a room) This really made it feel like a huge family with everyone helping out and doing their part.

We plan to take an annual meal to the RMH that we were privileged to stay at. And some day when the kiddos are older I'd also love to volunteer.