Support a Sister's Journey to Honor Ken.

I am looking to raise funds to grant a final wish and to surprise my sister with a gift she didn't think was possible.

My sister is a 71-year-old retired nurse living in Western North Carolina. She had two marriages that didn't work out as planned. And then she met Ken. Ken was not like anyone she had ever known before. Ken was 10 years older than her, but you would never know it. Ken was an adventurer and had already had a very full life before they met. Ken was a former Los Angeles and Little Rock police officer; he had worked in the oil fields in Alaska. Ken was a cowboy at heart, and over time he honed his cowboy skills. He was a gunsmith and an incredible knife maker. Once Ken had had enough of Alaska, he moved back to the lower 48, where he went to work in the Forestry Department, and that is where the trouble began. At the time, the department was using something we all know now as Agent Orange to keep scrub brush down to help prevent wildfires. They were not aware of the dangers to any humans that were exposed to it, and Ken was exposed to it. Ken got very sick but did make a full recovery. Fast forward a few years, and my sister and Ken meet, and it was like they had been together all their lives. The connection was instantaneous, and a great love story began. My sister, being a nurse, could work anywhere, so they ended up in Tucson, and Ken was able to get back to his cowboy roots. He worked as a Jeep tour guide, spinning yarns to the tourists. Along with his gun repair work and his knife building, he fit right in with the cowboy culture. After a while, the homestead he had in Arkansas pulled them back to the 40 acres he purchased years ago.

Everything was going well until late 2007, when the Agent Orange popped back into their life in the form of lung cancer. Despite aggressive therapy, three months later, Ken was dead at 63 years old. One of Ken's dying wishes was to have his ashes scattered on Boot Hill Cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona.

It has been 17 years since that request was made, and so far, it has yet to be fulfilled.

I would like to surprise my sister and help her fulfill that wish. Neither of us are getting any younger, so now is the time to do this. Unfortunately, we are both retired and pretty much living on fixed incomes, and that is where you come in. I will need to purchase a fairly reliable vehicle to make the trip, nothing fancy but reliable. It should be about a two-week trip with hotels, food, and any other essentials that may pop up. Please help me make this surprise and final wish happen. Thank you in advance.