“There’s something about grabbing the handle outside the House and you’re like, ‘Okay. We made it through another day.’”
The first time Jonathan Strickland reached for the front door of the Ronald McDonald House was in 2022 after he and his wife, Samantha, and their daughter, Amanda, welcomed baby Magnolia into the world. She was 10 weeks early and so little. They couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) alone while commuting 90 miles between the hospital and their home in Sierra Vista.
Their pastors back home, who cared for their own NICU baby a couple years earlier, suggested they stay at the House. Jonathan and Samantha knew they could follow their pastors’ advice, but they had no idea what to expect.
For 50 nights, the House took care of them so they could take care of Magnolia. It was a place filled with comfort in the form of meals made with love, relaxing bedrooms, and other parents who were also caring for a sick child.
Outside the front door felt chaotic, but the inside of the House held a sense of calm for the entirety of their stay.
Soon life returned to normal and they headed home. Then three years later in 2025, Samantha was once again placed on bed rest at the hospital in Tucson, while awaiting the couple’s third child. This time, they were better prepared.
With Amanda and little Maggie in tow, Jonathan returned to the Ronald McDonald House. They quickly settled into their own special routine.
They spent their days in the hospital with mom, breaking for snacks and naptimes in the Ronald McDonald Family Room.
At night, they would head back to the House, excited for dinner together and playtime in the Center for Adventure playroom. For ten minutes before bedtime, they would watch the fish. Then they would rest up and do it all again the next day.
When baby Rockland was born, the family added something new to their routine: daily visits to the Sibling Center. This new program opened in 2024 and provides siblings of hospitalized patients with up to two hours of supervised, therapeutic play with Child Life assistants inside Banner Diamond Children’s Medical Center.
Here, Amanda and Maggie painted pictures for mom and dad, made colorful and gooey slime, and built castles out of LEGO® bricks. While they played, mom and dad had a couple hours of alone time to rest, talk with doctors, and bond with their son in the NICU.
“It’s still stressful, but it’s a lot less stressful without having to worry about what the girls are doing, if they’re being good, or if they’re being taken care of—because we know that they are,” said Samantha.
At the Sibling Center, they knew that their girls were getting all the attention siblings of hospitalized kids need.
With mom and dad by his side, baby Rockland flew past his NICU milestones. After four weeks, his doctors gave his family the best news: he was strong enough to head home to Sierra Vista.
The family packed their bags after their nearly 3-month stay and reached for the handle of the Ronald McDonald House front door one last time with gratitude in their hearts.
