I was at Mickey D's this morning to grab an apple pie, and as I always do I stuck my change in the little donation box for Ronald McDonald House. As I turned around to leave I caught a smirk on the face of the guy behind me... I could see him thinking, if you're going to just give your change back to them, why not give it to me?
Let me tell you a very short story. Short, because i can't bear to dwell on this more than a minute or so.
Five years ago, when my son was close to the end in his fight with cancer, they wanted to try a bone-marrow transplant as a last ditch effort to save his life. The clinic was in New York and would require him and at least one parent to be there for at least a month.
A month, at least, living in a hotel in New York. Picture how much that would cost. I was beginning the process of putting my home up for sale.
But we were referred to the RMD house by our doctors. The details are blurry in my mind but they made it possible for my wife and son to go to New York, stay at a nice facility and get his treatments. Didn't cost us a dime.
And now I've talked about it too long... I'll be not very good company for a few hours. But this was important. Stick a coin in that box next time you're there.