A Sad Day

Dear Lucy,
According to the death certificate, September 26, 2008 is the official day that Anne died. Actually, she died one year ago today.
When her friend Ann Werner discovered her in bed not breathing last September 25, the EMTs were called and she was "revived" meaning they put her on a ventilator, got her heart started and took her to St. Joseph hospital.
I received a call from Ann Werner at work saying come to the hospital, I think Anne is dead.
When I arrived, they had Anne on a gurney with a tube down her throat pumping oxygen into her. They were preparing to take her for a CT scan. The scan showed that she had about 5% brain function left. She was brain dead.
Ann Werner and I told the doctor that Anne wanted to be an organ donor so they put her into a room to do tests to see if she was eligible.
At that time, when I was alone with her, I crawled into the bed with her to lie next to her one last time and talk to her.
After several hours Ann Werner decided to keep Anne on life support until the next day when her partner could fly in from Reno to say goodbye. That is why her death certificate lists her death as the 26th.
I did not come back to the hospital to watch them "pull the plug" on Anne as I wanted my last memory of her to be "still breathing".
It was the saddest day of my life.
--Kathy