My wife Labrina and I arrived in Memphis less than a week after our son Joshua was diagnosed with a Brainstem Glioma in the fall of 2008. It was Labor Day Weekend and we were headed to Birmingham, Alabama with the family. After a quick breakfast pit stop Joshua started to complain of neck pain and began to vomit, so we rushed him to the nearest hospital in Anniston. We received news that the CT showed something questionable and we were told to go to Birmingham for further testing. That’s where the MRI revealed a tumor on our Joshua’s brain stem. Within a week we arrived in Memphis, began treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and moved in to Ronald McDonald House.

We stayed two months for Joshua’s first treatments and just returned for our second stay and another round of chemotherapy. We initially arrived in a state of shock but the transition into our new circumstances and our new “home-away-from-home” was made easy by the staff and volunteers of Ronald McDonald House. Everyone welcomed us with open arms, and helped us ease into the community while making us feel comfortable and at home. We have met dozens of other families here at the House – these people from all walks of life have become our ‘internal support group’, our shoulders to cry on, our coping mechanism and the friends that we share our experiences with. We have been blessed with the kindness of volunteers who inspired us to give of our time and talents at our local Ronald McDonald House in Macon, Georgia.

I am eternally grateful that my family has become a part of this circle of hope, love, comfort and compassion. This year we will celebrate Father’s Day in Memphis and I am so thankful that I get to be here with my son and spend this precious time with Joshua. Ronald McDonald House allowed us to be stay together as a family during this important time and to get entire days of father – son memories.

 

 

- Trent Solomon (Josua's Dad)