Twenty-nine years ago, when living in Sierra Vista, my toddler daughter Felicia and infant son Andrew were diagnosed at the same time with cystic fibrosis. And Andrew, who was three and half months old, had to be hospitalized in Tucson because of the additional diagnosis of failure to thrive. My husband Henry was deployed in Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Storm, and our closest family was in Dallas. I didn’t know how I was going to manage having Andrew in the hospital an hour-and-a-half away and at the same time care for Felicia.

What seemed insurmountable was doable because of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona. The Ronald McDonald House gave me a place to come to after spending the day or night at the hospital, a place for the kids to play, a place to sleep, a place to sit and read or watch tv, home-cooked meals ─ in other words, a home.

These are the tangible things that the Ronald McDonald House provides. The intangible? They supported us and all the families. They listened and had conversations about the day-to-day normal happenings. They asked about how my kids were doing, how they were coping. It meant so much to me that the staff and volunteers at Ronald McDonald House would be so concerned about the whole family.

Back then, my husband and I paid $10 a night at Ronald McDonald House. “What a deal!” I thought. Only $10 a night for a place to stay while your child is in the hospital far from home, to have home-cooked meals, a kitchen to cook your own meal because that’s what feels normal, a washer and dryer to do your laundry. Nearly thirty years later, you might expect the price to have gone up accordingly, but today? Today, families don’t pay anything to stay at the Ronald McDonald House thanks to the goodwill of donors. My children, my husband and I are proud to count ourselves among that community of donors.

Now we’ve come full circle, and my daughter is a mom of her own. She and my son-in-law Brian welcomed little Natalie Joy to the family just last year ─ our first grandchild. One of my gifts to her, on her very first Mother’s Day as a mom, will be a donation to the Ronald McDonald House in her name.

I hope you’ll join us in recognizing the mothers in your life by making a special gift to Ronald McDonald House Charities. They’ve even set it up so you can send a lovely e-card to them along with a notification of your gift.

Happy Mother’s Day to you and your loved ones. ─ Bridget Werchan

Honor your mom, grandma, or mother figure in your life with a donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona in their name and we’ll send them a personalized e-card from you.