I guess I'll go over the sequence of events yesterday. I had an appointment with my t in the morning. Of course it was spent talking about my sister. He was proud of me for setting that boundary and not rushing down to Houston to be with the family. I knew what I needed to do to take care of myself during this crisis, and I followed through.

About noon I talked to my mother and the doctors had pinpointed her pneumonia as a streptococcus pneumonia, so they were feeling hopeful that they could get her on the right antibiotics. There plan was to do a procedure in the afternoon to drain fluid off of her lungs. They knew going into the procedure that it was risky, but they were out of options. During the procedure her heart stopped and restarted itself once, then it stopped again and they had to restart it for her. At that point, the doctor told the family that he wouldn't take any further heroic measures with her; it was time to let her go. They removed her from the ventilator and she died peacefully within minutes.

My heart is broken. Kathy was a spectacularly special individual who touched the lives of countless people. I haven't stopped crying. I suspect I won't until after the funeral on Saturday.

We are leaving for Houston tomorrow morning, so I won't be around for a few days.

Keep your loved ones close.