Category Family Story

It’s hard to be away from home. It’s even harder when home is far away. Zuren and Josiah are from the small island of Trinidad. It is home to 1.27 million people and is 1,833 square miles—2.33 million people and…

The definition of endure is to remain firm under suffering or misfortune without yielding. Another definition of endure is Eli. “Eli amazes me,” said Samantha, Eli’s mom. “He has been so strong and brave.” “Eli is resilient,” said Jason, Eli’s…

The Strong family didn’t know what was wrong with Ethan, but they knew something was wrong. “He wasn’t eating, his eyes were sunken in and he was always in pain from arthritis,” said Anna, his mother. “He is tough to…

As Ruth was thinking about the past three months at the Ronald McDonald House of Rochester, Minnesota, a big smile came across her face and she said, “It’s hard to have a negative attitude when you’re surrounded by so much…

What would you do if your totally healthy, 10-year-old daughter woke up sick? What would you do if nobody believed she was sick? “We couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her,” said Sunee, Madee’s mom. “Everyone called her a…

When people hear stories about families staying at the Ronald McDonald House of Rochester, Minnesota, they often say they can’t imagine what it would be like to go through something like that with their child. Well, what if you had…

Five months. 151 days. 217,440 minutes. 13,046,400 seconds. And it felt like much longer for Kaycee and John Krecklow. “Jack was in the NICU for 151 days” Kaycee said. “And we were terrified.” Kaycee was 24 weeks and three days…

Ken and Rachelle Drabek know exactly what they are getting at the Ronald McDonald House of Rochester and Mayo Clinic, which is increasingly important in a world of unknowns. Their eight-year-old son Logan first visited Mayo when he was three.…

Liza Hassler was an outlier coming into this world. She was born with a rare craniofacial condition that affects only one in 300,000 live births. Liza’s journey began in Chicago, where she received treatment and underwent numerous surgeries. After the…

Most people are lucky if they have one loving family. Faith Westby has three. Faith is a sweet, charismatic 15-year-old girl living with a rare, multi-system disorder. During an annual checkup for the girl who already had heart surgery, doctors…