Kam

Yesterday was a pretty sad day in Perkins county. I say the whole county, because there probably isn't one person here that didn't feel great sadness to hear of Kam's passing. For those of you who don't know her, she was a neighbor who passed away on Sunday from a 12 year battle with cancer. First breast cancer, next, it spread to her lungs, and finally to her liver. She was 40 years old, married with a 15 yr old daughter, 13 and 7 year old sons. Her family moved here the same time Jed and I did, and Jed's dog Rio came from her. When her cancer returned in 2007 she asked Jed if he could take her since she wouldn't be able to devote the time she wanted to training Rio. Of course Jed said yes without hesitation since he'd always wanted a cow dog.

Here is the link to her caring bridge site if you have an hour or 8 to spend reading about the last 4 years of her life.
www.caringbridge.org/visit/kammer

She was and will continue to be such an inspiration to this community. You never saw her without a huge smile on her face, or an upbeat attitude, despite all she had been through. My favorite journal post of hers was one she talked about how most people think you should be checking things off your bucket list when you're in her situation, but for her, it was more about living a "normal" life and enjoying the every day stuff we all take for granted. Enjoy the opportunity to wave to your kids as they get on the school bus, enjoy being able to go to their basketball games, or the simple trip to Lemmon for Chinese. She said it much better, but you get the idea.

She was such a fighter and never gave up hoping for a cure. For the past 4 years she went to Rapid ONCE a week. Can you imagine? I love me some Rapid, but once a week. No thank you. What's even more incredible is her husband went with her nearly every time. For a rancher, that's almost hard to believe. I have a hard time dragging Jed away from home once a month. And usually I don't win that battle. I really thought she was going to beat this, if anyone could. Just doesn't seem fair sometimes. Hard to believe she's really gone. 
Her step father is a pastor and he did the funeral ceremony. Oh em gee. How could anyone do that? Incredible. My least favorite part of any funeral is seeing the family walk in. Ugh. Her husband, her kids. So heartbreaking. Her journal also talks about how her husband would do their weekly walmart run while she was taking her chemo treatment. What a guy.

So please say a few extra prayers for the Arneson family and all of those grieving her loss. She was a small person, but left a huge hole in the world.