Week 9 - Pulling at the Heart Strings

The Valley City Times Record has been following the story of seven month old Paityn Elstrom who was born with a failing liver. Initially she received surgery to correct the situation. Unfortunately, the surgery was not successful and her only chance of survival is for a liver transplant.

The Valley City community has rallied around the little girl because of so many family connections in the community. Her parents grew up in and around Valley City. She has grandparents and other close relatives in the community.

Father Jason’s 5 year old cousin started a fundraiser in his elementary classroom to help fund the enormous medical bills. Before he knew it, he raised $1300. Since then there has been a benefit to help as well as an account at Bank Forward in Valley City. Dakota Medical Foundation’s Lend A Hand program matched $5000 during the benefit.

It’s such a heartwarming case of a good, hard working young couple starting their family with such challenges. And to see pictures of little Paityn you just want to help her get a fair chance of growing up big and strong.

Many parts of this story are amazing to me. First, how far medical science has come. I can hardly imagine have a piece of someone else keeping me alive. About 2 ½ years ago my 24 year old nephew found out he had only one kidney and that kidney was failing. He had no idea before a life insurance physical that there was anything wrong. His best shot was for a transplant and his older sister gave him life. He is doing great and living a full life – with a changed attitude. He was a bit inside himself much of his growing up years and all the sudden he’s so full of sharing and life – but that’s another story.

The other thing that amazes me is how even during very tough financial times, people will rally to help others with needs more than our own. It’s humbling to know that this little girl needs all of us to help her survive this. And even though it may be difficult to share the little we have, we will do it because it’s the right thing to do and we feel great doing it. Good human nature succeeds no matter what!

Week 8 Blog

The Ron and Jodi Hansen family are quite unique. This feel good story is about a family working and enjoying life together while building their dream life. The Hansen’s have five home schooled daughters who work with them on their ventures which include horse and dog boarding.


Last year they bought a piece of land next to the Sheyenne National Grasslands about 40 miles southwest of Fargo. They are developing the land into the Sheyenne Oaks Horse Camp and RV Park which they expect to open in April. According to the article, “Sheyenne Oaks Horse Camp and RV Park will offer 21 sites with sewer, water and electrical hookups, plus corrals for horse owners, on 120 acres.”

The Hansen’s have worked for years to get to this dream. At age 25 Ron went to engineering school while in the process of raising their family. It made Ron employable as a mechanical engineer at Loegering Manufacturing in Casselton and income to sustain the family. The job also gave Ron the expertise to develop their geothermal heat system used in their home.

The whole family is involved in all aspects of their lives from working with the animals and all the chores that go with that to haying in the summer for winter feed. And they sound happy! It appears the kids don’t mind the work. They don’t have TV and Ron says they don’t have time to watch it anyway.

This is a great story of an American dream come true. As a horse enthusiast, I see a real market for this. Every kid wants a horse growing up and this is the next best thing. The location of this business venture is perfect. Less than one hours from the fastest growing community in North Dakota. I think they have individuals and groups come to trail ride on their horses on a regular basis. Their location lends itself perfectly for an inexpensive day or weekend trip in a beautiful area of eastern North Dakota.

I think they’ve got a real shot at completing this part of their dreams. Those with horses will have great riding opportunities and those without will have a place to rent and enjoy the outdoors. Check out the photos and rates on their web site. I was impressed.