As a child I remember always dreaming of wolves and the Alaskan wilderness, as I grew older the dream became an obsession and the obsession led me to find Kona.  She was my best friend and my dream come true. For twelve years she was the primary focus of my life.. my guide, my joy, my heart.

Kona was never an easy animal, I shed my share of blood and sweat and tears for her in her younger years and she became the greatest teacher of my life in return. From Kona I learned everything I know about patience, commitment, and true unconditional love. I learned that you cannot have love without commitment, and that means always doing whatever it takes to make things work.

Kona seemed to turn heads and inspire happiness wherever she went, I met more people and heard more stories and saw more smiles because of her than I ever would have imagined possible. We traveled to 30 states and 2 Canadian provinces together. We camped in more places than I can remember and she was the only hiking partner I’ve ever had who was never ready to quit. She caught birds from the air, random mammals from bushes, and was an expert at digging up moles. She changed very much over the years but the one thing that never changed is that she was always happy as long as she was with me and she was always smiling.

I lost Kona to Transitional Cell Carcinoma in January after bravely fighting this terrible disease for 13 months. I am grateful for the excellent care we received from Dr. Lewis and her staff that allowed us to have the chance to say goodbye.  I will miss Kona with all my heart for the rest of my life.