Because Sometimes Close is Too Far Away

In the weeks leading up to Hattie's surgery, many people from Children's told us about the Ronald McDonald House.  My response was always the same, "Thank you, but we live close by, so we would feel guilty taking a room that a family who lives far away could use." Their response was always, "It isn't about how far away you live, it is about providing resources to all families that have a child at the hospital."  While I appreciated that, I still came into this thinking we'd just sleep in Hattie's room.

While we were in the waiting room during her surgery, a social worker came in and told us that she had scheduled us for two nights at the RM House and that it was on the third floor of the hospital.  We thought it was off-site, so we were surprised that it was just below Hattie.  She mentioned the mealtimes and encouraged us to go have a good meal.  Later that night, Hattie was in her ICU room sleeping peacefully, so we decided to go down quick for dinner. The cafeteria has limited options, so we decided to go to the RM House.

Doors in hospitals are gray or beige metal - but the door to the RM House is a beautiful wood door with stained glass. It feels so welcoming. As you open it, you feel like you are walking into the parade of homes tour - not a part of the hospital.  There are living room settings, a huge gorgeous kitchen, some workout equipment, computers, laundry services, and a pantry filled with any cooking supplies that you could ever need (and you are welcome to just take what you need if you want to cook or bake).  We were greeted by a group of volunteers from Bremer Bank that were serving a full ham dinner.  It was amazing!   The food was delicious, it felt so good to have a cold glass of milk, and the people serving it were friendly and gracious. As we ate, I saw a huge map of the Twin Cities on the wall with the words, "Sometimes Close is Still Too Far Away." Yep, I get that now and I am so grateful that people kept encouraging us to utilize their services.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that our room resembled a hotel room - nice bed, a desk, our own bathroom.  How nice to not have to use the community shower in the ICU!  They even had fresh towels and a basket of toiletries on the counter in our bathroom in case we needed anything.

The first night, Paul slept down there and I stayed with Hattie and then last night we switched.  I can't even begin to tell you how incredible it was to just have our own space to relax and sleep.  We've eaten several meals down there now and they won't accept a penny.  It's pretty amazing. Several times there have been volunteer bakers that are just there making cupcakes, cookies or pies so you can help yourself when you are hungry.