Benefit Account for Corey Harder. . .

I just wanted to take a moment to share information about a benefit account set up for a dear friend and his family, Corey Harder. I went to high school with Corey and his wife, Ronda (Duerksen—Ronda's family were neighbors of ours, amazing family in their own right), and they have been and continue to be, such awesome supporters on this this long journey . . . recently, Corey, a cancer survivor himself, found out that his brain tumor had returned, and his prognosis is critical. . .

The parallels of Corey and Ronda's story to Bob's and mine are uncanny: Corey, like Bob, is a many-years survivor of cancer (his, a brain tumor); Ronda, like me, is a hairdresser. Corey was interviewing for his dream job when his cancer returned (Bob had just started his "dream job" back at Surdyk's when his returned); Ronda has taken a lot of (unpaid) time off from work, to be with Corey on this journey, and will likely be taking more time off as their journey continues . . . the frustrations, roadblocks and endless hair-pulling events they've experienced mirror what Bob and I faced a lifetime ago. . . I could just scream along with them (and I do . . .)

Ronda and Corey live in Kansas with their adorable son, Zane. They've been to their local hospital, have traveled to the Mayo, for more tests/treatments/input on Corey's situation. They are now on the road to Texas, to MD Anderson in Houston, for another opinion on treatment opinions, as the tumor is growing fast and initial treatment plans are no longer an option.

I am now on the "offering" end of a crisis; I feel helpless, yet desperate, in what I can to do help them, especially being so far away. I recently learned from Ronda's sister Kendra, that a benefit account has been set up at Corey and Ronda's local bank. I can't even begin to tell y'all how much the benefit account (and subsequent rockin' benefit event) helped Bob and me, in endless ways. It helped in making the decision to quit my job, to be by Bob's side full-time as we traveled the horrific journey together . . . for that, I am endlessly, forever grateful to everyone, and that our friends had the foresight (and persistence) to set up the account (and bugged me endlessly, till I eventually conceded to the benefit event), which helped to make that decision possible. Jump, and the net will appear . . . faith, personified. . .

But, I also get it, too deeply, that the events at hand take precedence to any benefit account—the crisis that Corey and Ronda are facing right now is all-consuming, and when I say all-consuming, I can't even begin to explain what that means, other than that a benefit account/event, along with pretty much everything else in life, is the LAST of their concerns. It's all they can do to focus all their time, energy and emotions on the immediate situation, and even then, they are grasping for beyond what they feel they are capable of . . . and that's where friends and family step in . . .

Please—if you are able—help this beautiful family. Anything you can do is welcomed and so appreciated. If there is one thing I have learned on this nearly two-year journey of Bob's and mine, it's that we are here on earth to take care of each other. Simple as that.

Checks can be made out to "Corey D Harder Benefit Account," the "Corey and Ronda Harder benefit account," the "Ronda Harder Benefit account," or any variation of the aforementioned. Any amount that you might be able to share, I know, will be gratefully accepted.

Midland National Bank
527 N Main St
Newton KS 67114