“Where we go one, we go all. We’re all in!”

Grandson Ben and his parents traveled from Atlanta to New York today for Ben’s annual checkup with Dr. Berenstein at Kravis Children’s Hospital.  Both parents have been worried sick because last year when they made this same trip for a checkup, Dr. B. found an abnormal blood flow in Ben’s brain and had to perform an emergency, life-saving surgery.  We all are hoping and praying that Ben gets a clean bill of heath this year.

Ben has been a little trooper through three endovascular brain surgeries in the past two years.  This little family has had a roller coaster of a time, and they’ve stuck together like glue.  As our daughter says, “Where we go one, we go all. We’re all in!”

 

Another concern this year was the fact that they would not be able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House because it is undergoing major renovations.  All available rooms were reserved for children ages 0-3 with cancer.  For Ben, the Ronald McDonald House has been a highlight of these trips.  It provides him a place to play and children with whom to play and helps him forget for a while the reason he is in New York.  Last year Ben told me the hospital was like a “monster” to him, and the Ronald McDonald House was the one thing to which he looked forward.  For his parents, the House provides love and support during a very frightening time, and staying there helps defray what would otherwise be the exorbitant cost of lodging in a hotel for a week.  So, how to tell our little guy that he would not be going to the Ronald McDonald House?

By some miracle, still unexplained, everything worked out!  The social worker from Dr. B.’s office called to say that out of hundreds of families for whom she had tried to get a room at the House, Ben’s family was the only one to get in.  “I can’t wait to meet your son.  I hear he’s an amazing young man,” she added.  Dr. Berenstein himself told Ben’s dad, “This is just another small miracle that God has done for little Benjamin.”

So, prior to flying out early today, the family stayed overnight in Atlanta at a hotel overlooking the airport runways…

And Ben and his dad were able to swim in the hotel pool located right by the planes…

 

My faithful readers know how Ben loves police officers and firefighters.  When he finally arrived at the Ronald McDonald House this morning he was excited beyond belief to find out that a New York City police officer was sitting just inside the door…

 

And the music room, which was being renovated last year, is open again!

#BenStrong    Soli Deo Gloria!