Rising Buffalo and Ayaquah Unintended Expenses

Kevin Ayaquah Maybee and I were together for 21 years. It went by so fast, and I am trying to stay strong as I mourn the devastating loss of my best friend and husband. We loved being together, and we loved the numerous friends that became a part of our family along the way. Honestly, I don’t know what I am going to do without him.

I had considered resigning from becoming a ranger but I now realize that we both worked very hard to become the successful ranger that I am today. It was definitely not just me, but the support from Ayaquah that allowed this to happen. I would come home from work and he would provide me the information that he had researched as we cooked dinner. This included history, natural resources, archaeology, etc…for whatever site I was serving at. These “cliff notes” become his passion and he was a very strong interpreter of these sites for me. I now realize that I need to honor Ayaquah by continuing the work that he passionately saw for our success. I will continue following this path and will be moving to Estes Park shortly.

When Ayaquah suddenly became ill, I literally dropped what I was doing at Chaco and drove him to the hospital in Albuquerque. They eventually life-flighted him to Salt Lake City where I sit here in Utah mourning the loss of Kevin. This is the most difficult journey I have ever experienced.

Now, all of my items are sitting in Chaco to be moved to Estes Park without the help of my wonderful husband. I am glad that he had the opportunity to explore the park I will be working at, and the week that we spent up there will be one of my most cherished memories.

This is where I need help from anyone who is able to assist. With the costs of this experience, along with the cost of some smaller bills ($1000 here, $800 there) I need to get these costs down quickly. With the loss of Ayaquah also comes the loss of our dual income. None of these bills would be an issue with both of us here, but with one of us gone, it greatly affects our situation. I am starting to look at liquidating some items and minimizing these costs. This has been the worst experience ever, and I don’t want to drown in bills. All of the funds will go towards these random costs from death and any other smaller bills which add up.

If you are able to help, I thank you. If you are unable to assist, I still thank you. Everyone in our lives have made us better people, and I honor each of you who have been in our lives. It is embarrassing to ask for help, but here I am, needing some help to get through this and start a new chapter.

Thank you.

RisingBuffalo MayBee