Saturday my husband Jay drove his motorcycle in the 10th annual Ronald McDonald House charity run.  There were 1320 bikes in attendance, with approximately $90,000 raised.  This charity run is the Ronald McDonald House’s biggest fundraiser of the year and it is heartwarming to see so many people show up and give their support.
This charity is near and dear to our family’s hearts.  When our son was sick in Fargo with cancer, we lived at the Ronald McDonald House in Fargo for a month.  I can’t tell you how kind everyone we encountered there was to us.  We could not have afforded a hotel and the gas running back and forth from Frazee to Fargo, not to mention the exhaustion that accompanied the traveling and the anxiety from the separation and distance, was more than we could bear.
We were able to stay at the RMH free of charge. The room was beautiful and the house had a fully stocked kitchen for anyone to use.  The phrase “make yourself at home” doesn’t come close to the spirit of the facility, which was more a home than hotel.  Carter and Cassie also stayed there a few nights to see mom, dad and Tyler.
When a child is sick, it is difficult to explain how everything feels bigger than you are.  Life becomes this precarious balance and each day the see-saw could tip either way.  It leaves you with sort of a sea sick feeling all the time.  What the RMH does is provides a port in the storm. They say, “Let us take care of at least this.”  The gratitude I feel toward them is priceless and there is no way I could ever repay them, so for Jay to take part in this fundraiser feels like at least a little part of giving back.