Sherry Murray:  

Since our great old school days, I have had two children, one girl and one boy. My son died in 1987 at the age of twenty. My daughter gave me 3 grandchildren, two girls and one boy. I am on marriage number 3 and what they say about 3rd. time is the charm is so correct, for me anyway. Tim and I have been together 29 years and he is without a doubt, my best friend. I recently retired from the work force in January. Forty-nine years was enough. My background is accounting and for the last nine years I worked for a non-profit alcohol and drug treatment center as a business manager. In 1993 my husband Tim broke his neck in an accident and became a quadriplegic, we moved out to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We have a small 40-acre ranch with horses, donkeys, dogs, cats, and various critters of the wild. It's beautiful wide-open country. The skies are un-encumbered with man's developments. The sunsets are awesome and the night sky is illuminated with stars. With all this solitude I bless the day I got the Internet! I'm not a complete hick...yet. When Tim had returned from the hospital in California, after his accident, we had to sell everything and start all over. One of the things we sold was our mini motor home. Tim and I would go off on a three-week vacation each year, pick a state and map our route so that we traveled as many states possible. It was a real pleasure to travel the back roads of America. But, sadly Tim said "we can't go camping anymore Hon, we need to sell her". That's when I knew what I had to do. Why not open a handicap accessible campground for families that had wheelchair bound members. I was now on a mission! I knew that we had to reduce the cost of living. So I went to the library and started my search. I developed a prerequisite of must haves, there were only 5. Number 1. Reduction in the cost of living. 2. Good medical. 3. A natural draw for visitors. 4. Low crime rate. and 5. Natural disaster handling. You see Tim was ex Navy submariner, yet the VA in California would not give him medical coverage. The rep from the VA said that he had burial coverage only. I quickly retorted, "Thanks, but he's not ready yet!". Anyway, his law enforcement job was a lump sum retirement. So, our path was set. One day after several days of research I said, "Hey Hon, how would you like to live in Fall River County, South Dakota?" He smiled and asked how I came to that decision. I explained that; 1. South Dakota had a sixty-five percent reduction in the cost of living. 2. It hosts one of the largest VA hospitals and they proclaimed that they were the "Home of the Veterans" and assured us that full medical would be given free of charge. 3. 56 miles away was the infamous Mount Rushmore to the north and 12 miles to Wild Horse Sanctu...Expand for more