I did not think it would be possible for me to love the Ronald McDonald House than I did before. Then I arrived and saw it all dolled up and ready to celebrate the holiday seasons. The House is a large facility that serves as a home for the families of children who are in the local Children's Hospital, one of the top-ranked in the country. These families come from all over, from our neighboring states to the far corners of the world. Some don't speak English, (I translate for a family from Honduras who only speaks Spanish) and most know absolutely no one in this new city. They also have a child who is sick, and many have other children too. In the mix of all this comes Christmas. With everything that is happening in these family lives it seems that the Christmas mood would be hard to find in the Ronald McDonald House.
That was until I walked in on Thanksgiving night for my shift and was greeted with an absolutely beautiful scene. The outside had been decorated with lights but they had been up for several weeks, so I wasn't expecting any change. I was in for a large surprise. Christmas lights, bows, garlands, and wreaths adorned every wall, banister, and balcony in the main lobby. The trees had the grandeur of nothing I had ever seen before, although I have deemed them the Rockefeller Christmas trees of the House.
As I worked in the house that evening I discovered that the lobby was not the only place that had been decorated to look like the North Pole. Every time I turned a corner I was greeted with a surprise. A family room with a tree and a snow village lit up around the balcony, lights strung in the breezeway, the West Wing kitchen covered with bows and bells. Perhaps the best surprise was the large Christmas village, complete with working train that runs three times a day. It took two days to set up and after seeing it I think I can definitely step up the small village in the bay room window of my family's breakfast room.
Talking to people around the house everyone seems to be just a little bit happier, their eyes a little bit brighter, kids who are normally seen with a frown on their face light up when they see the trees and decorations. As a person who loves Christmas it shows me just how much the Christmas cheer really can get everyone in the spirit of the holidays. And while the families at the House may still have sick children, mounting medical bills, family far away, and another life they wish they could be living, the workers of the Ronald McDonald House have managed to make their season a little brighter. So this year I will smile a little bigger, ask a few more people how I can help them out, and generally just sprinkle a bit more Holiday cheer at the House.
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