Funeral Expenses for Zeenat Khan
Donation protected
My name is Rachel Howe, and this is the story of Zeb, my eldest daughter’s wonderful boyfriend. At age nineteen he has already been through more trials in this life than many of us have. He went into the Air National Guard right after high school in 2019, and while he was attending Tech School his mother, Zeenat, found out that her breast cancer had metastasized to her brain.
In January of 2020, Zeenat underwent two brain surgeries. Zeb’s older brother Alfaz took on the care of their mother during this time. Zeb returned to Alaska on April 1st, and was excited to be back home with his family.
Things seemed to be going well, Zeenat appeared to be making a steady recovery, Al and Zeb were both working for the Air National Guard, and Al had picked out a puppy from a breeder in Kansas. She arrived in Alaska on May 8th of 2020.
Two days later on Mother’s Day, tragedy struck when Al took the newly arrived Kali along on a Tanana River fishing trip with a friend. Still being a puppy, she leaped into the river after a log, and Al went after her to save her. He got Kali back to his friend but was himself taken by the river. After four days of active searching, Al’s body was still not found.
This was a crushing blow to the family. Al was Zeb’s big brother, best friend, and his hunting, fishing, and traveling buddy.
With Al’s death, this left Zeb to take care of his mother, Kali, and two households. In September they decided to move into Al’s one story house as Zeenat was now paralyzed completely on the left size of her body, and it would be easier to care for her there. Her seizures were getting worse at this point and after a week at Al’s house Zeb had to take her to the Emergency Room.
Due to Covid restrictions he was not allowed to be in the Emergency Room with his mother, but he waited in the parking lot for hours hoping for the chance to see her. Then doctors admitted her. During those weeks it was discovered that the cancer had spread to Zeenat’s lungs. She was finally released to come home on October 24th after a month and a half.
I took over her care at home on November 10th. We decorated her room for Christmas, bought the family matching Christmas pajamas, and learned too cook wonderful Indian food that we couldn’t pronounce the names of. We did our best to keep things as normal as we could, with laughter, family time (and puppies!) nearly every evening.
In the early morning hours of December 1st, Zeenat became unresponsive, despite good vitals. At 1:37 PM she decided she was ready to go and see Alfaz. As much as it hurt us to see her go, now we knew that she was no longer in pain.
Zeb’s dad lives in Anchorage and was able to travel here for the funeral, and has been taking care of the financials for his own residence as well as the other two homes. Zeb would like to keep his brother’s house in North Pole and that means taking on all of the expenses for it.
He is just needing a bit of help with some of the funeral expenses and getting caught up with bills for the house. Any help and prayers would be much appreciated during this time.
Respectfully,
Rachel Howe
In January of 2020, Zeenat underwent two brain surgeries. Zeb’s older brother Alfaz took on the care of their mother during this time. Zeb returned to Alaska on April 1st, and was excited to be back home with his family.
Things seemed to be going well, Zeenat appeared to be making a steady recovery, Al and Zeb were both working for the Air National Guard, and Al had picked out a puppy from a breeder in Kansas. She arrived in Alaska on May 8th of 2020.
Two days later on Mother’s Day, tragedy struck when Al took the newly arrived Kali along on a Tanana River fishing trip with a friend. Still being a puppy, she leaped into the river after a log, and Al went after her to save her. He got Kali back to his friend but was himself taken by the river. After four days of active searching, Al’s body was still not found.
This was a crushing blow to the family. Al was Zeb’s big brother, best friend, and his hunting, fishing, and traveling buddy.
With Al’s death, this left Zeb to take care of his mother, Kali, and two households. In September they decided to move into Al’s one story house as Zeenat was now paralyzed completely on the left size of her body, and it would be easier to care for her there. Her seizures were getting worse at this point and after a week at Al’s house Zeb had to take her to the Emergency Room.
Due to Covid restrictions he was not allowed to be in the Emergency Room with his mother, but he waited in the parking lot for hours hoping for the chance to see her. Then doctors admitted her. During those weeks it was discovered that the cancer had spread to Zeenat’s lungs. She was finally released to come home on October 24th after a month and a half.
I took over her care at home on November 10th. We decorated her room for Christmas, bought the family matching Christmas pajamas, and learned too cook wonderful Indian food that we couldn’t pronounce the names of. We did our best to keep things as normal as we could, with laughter, family time (and puppies!) nearly every evening.
In the early morning hours of December 1st, Zeenat became unresponsive, despite good vitals. At 1:37 PM she decided she was ready to go and see Alfaz. As much as it hurt us to see her go, now we knew that she was no longer in pain.
Zeb’s dad lives in Anchorage and was able to travel here for the funeral, and has been taking care of the financials for his own residence as well as the other two homes. Zeb would like to keep his brother’s house in North Pole and that means taking on all of the expenses for it.
He is just needing a bit of help with some of the funeral expenses and getting caught up with bills for the house. Any help and prayers would be much appreciated during this time.
Respectfully,
Rachel Howe
Organizer
Rachel Howe
Organizer
North Pole, AK