JULY 2018
From Our House to Yours RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF THE RED RIVER VALLEY NEWSLETTER
THE BEGINNINGS OF RMHC OF THE RED RIVER VALLEY
“We ha ve bee n
On December 16, 1978, Bev McAllister received a phone call from
lifetim
e. I jus
her husband, Jim, about a lump he found on their 14-month old little girl, Sara. Prior to finding the lump on Sara’s stomach, Sara
After Jim noticed the lump, the McAllister’s made arrangements for their two older children and brought Sara to the Valley City Emergency Room where the attending doctor immediately knew something was wrong. The family was rushed to a pediatrician in Fargo where they learned Sara’s diagnosis: liver cancer. The news of this rare form of cancer was disruptive, terrifying and followed
ib. She
king, p
st feel
just la ys in h
isn’t a
fraid?
whole
life?”
t? Is th
stickin
s and it
looks s
pen, la ying s
emote
am mo
re afra
have d
one to
her.
metim
she kn
id than
g all of
am. So
o still.
chanc e
eful
iderin
s they
wide o
d peac
d cons
than I
like a
tiful an
needle
braver
seems
o beau
nd goo
g with
ere a r
ome I
12 hou r
rave a
e she is
, eyes
How c
nd she
becaus
er crib
g abou
Sara a
en so b
g and
guilty
lmost
has be
roddin
I almo
thinkin
al for a
d in on
her cr
the po
at a doctor’s appointment Jim and Bev were instructed not to be
hospit
t looke
laying in
had been acting differently – subdued and lethargic – although concerned.
at the
es she
What c
ould s
ows w h
he be
at is a
I have
head a
ever b
een in
by five days of incredible ups and downs. Then, on December 21,
nd
my
1978, Sara passed away. It took the McAllisters many long years to figure out what their lives would look like without their beautiful daughter. They learned,
- Bev M
cAlliste
r
“Sara’s death, no matter how difficult it was, became an occasion for grace.” The family is convinced that all situations can be an occasion for grace and that good, wonderful things can follow... Continued on page 2
of the Red River Valley