Mom died today at 3:30 p.m. I was sitting by her bed doing some work on the laptop while Dad napped. Her breathing was pretty weird (has been for days), and it paused for a really long time. When there was the beginning of a long pause after her next breath, I woke Dad. I then went upstairs to wake my sister, because after a number of false alarms over the last few days, this seemed like the real thing. I then had to step outside to handle a drop-in visitor. When I returned to Mom and Dad’s room, Mom was dead. After her last breath, she gave Dad’s hand one last squeeze and then let go. She was 61 years old.