In the 25 years Desiree Kelleigh has owned and run Good Times Lakeview Restaurant overlooking Ballston Lake, she certainly learned how to turn a profit. Now, she’s learning how to make a difference.
I want to party with a purpose and bring joy to anybody that may have been conflicted with this type of long-term suffering, said Kelleigh.
The 1st Deck Jam to raise money for the Multiple Schlerosis Association and for Multiple Sclerosis research will take place on Friday,, June 24, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Good Times. With a $25 donation, partiers can enjoy free food, beverages, live music, a DJ and an auction.
Kelleigh’s husband, Hugh, has been suffering from MS for 14 years. The last five and a half have been terminal and until just two years ago, Kelleigh and her family kept their pain to themselves.
`Every day was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. We’re a very quiet family. I brought my kids up to be what goes on in the family stays in the family,` said Kelleigh. `I figured what I had gone through with my family, somehow we felt shame in not understanding his illness, and I wanted no family to ever feel shame like that.`
Now that Kelleigh’s story is out in the open, the community support and her trust in `God’s plan` gives her the strength to wake up every morning and live life to the fullest.
`The pain is every day throughout my entire whole core but I know that when I do this that God’s gonna do something amazing later on in the day,` said Kelleigh. `I just realized I had to get up and fight through the day and it’s this community I get hugs. I need them and I guess people can see that and somehow that gets me through the next day and the next day.`
There’s almost no part of her life that she keeps private. In fact, some 2,000 people follow what she calls `True Stories` on Facebook.
`Every single day I keep it real and something in my life happens, either ridiculously depressing or overwhelmingly inspirational. It’s every day,` said Kelleigh, who shares her incredible experiences on Facebook. `I don’t create it, it’s just what happens and I often wonder ‘Why me?’ because I suppose I’m the least person that you would think would be chosen to talk about divine intervention but it is what it is.`
Kelleigh’s belief in help from above runs deep. Three years ago Good Times was on the brink of foreclosure until a man handed her a check for $42,000.
`I didn’t even know his name and I paid my property tax. That doesn’t just happen,` said Kelleigh.
Two weeks ago, Good Times got a brand new sprinkler system that cost $6,000. Kelleigh didn’t shell out a dime.
`A couple, when they park their car to go fishing, they love walking by my garden,` said Kelleigh.
She’s so intent on giving back to those who opened their hearts and arms to her that she doesn’t consider herself a restaurant owner anymore.
`I don’t own a restaurant anymore, I gave it to the people,` said Kelleigh. `You listen to what the people want and what is important to them. I happen to be a professional chef who loves French food but I don’t sell anything French; it’s not about me, it’s not what I want or my envision of this restaurant.`
Her customers are the type of people she needs in her life, said Kelleigh, who even takes photos of fishermen’s catches and displays them in a digital picture frame by the front door.
`I only surround myself with positive people that bring me joy. There’s no exception to the rule,` said Kelleigh.
The 1st Deck Jam is an event Kelleigh hopes to hold annually. She’s been planning it for six months and while she said she still doesn’t know exactly how it’ll come together, she knows it will. She’s expecting 300 to 500 people.
`We’re going to party. We’re going to take the word ‘MS’ and make it something of positive change because right now it’s a dirty word to me and my family and it brings us great pain,` said Kelleigh.
The event is sponsored by the MS Association and everything is donated, from the music, the DJ, the food and gifts for a silent auction. The musical component of Deck Jam is especially important to Kelleigh.
`Music is our love and our passion and I believe it’s the only universal language that can even transcend mental disabilities and the only way I can speak to [my husband] actually, because he’s blind, paralyzed and can’t speak,` said Kelleigh.
Kelleigh hopes to raise $5,000 at her first event.
The rain date is Friday, July 8. Good Times Lakeview Restaurant is located at 175 Lake Road in Ballston Lake. For more information about the restaurant or to find a link to Kelleigh’s Facebook page, visit www.goodtimesrestaurant.com.
“