Help us say a final goodbye to Auntie Martha

My sister, Martha Rose, died of cancer on January 14, a week after her 34th birthday. Our family had only 18 months with her from the time she received her diagnosis.

I suspect that nearly everyone who sees this already knows we lost Martha. You are either one of Martha’s friends, a friend of someone else in our family, or part of our extended family. You probably already made a contribution, or more than one, to the previous GoFundMe campaign established by Martha and her spouse Claudia.

Among the instructions Martha left us for after her death was a request that my parents, my brother, and I, along with our partners and children, join Claudia in Newton, Massachusetts to spread some of Martha's ashes at one of her favorite spots. It will be the only such gathering of her immediate family as part of our grieving process.

This GoFundMe appeal is to make that possible. Martha’s Reno, Nevada family—me and my husband Ryan and our children Desmond and Djuna—are humbly asking for your help to get us to Massachusetts.

Everything about cancer sucks, and on top of that it’s costly. All of us are depleted financially from costs associated with previous travel to visit Martha (this will make the fourth trip in less than two years). That’s why we’re turning to family and friends.

We are asking for help to raise $4000 to purchase airfare and to help us rent a car for our time in Massachusetts. Travel from Reno to Boston often requires multiple flights. At the time of this fundraiser being published the cheapest feasible flights look to be about $600 per person (so $2400 before fees or checked bags). The longer we wait to purchase tickets for what we hope will be an early June trip, the more expensive it becomes.

Any amount you can give will help.

Thank you so very much.