Thoughts of a physicist, gamer, and witch

My step-father, Robert Prentice, passed away today at about 1:20 PM Los Angeles time. I'm going to fly to Los Angeles on Thursday, and return on Monday. So it goes.

Yesterday, Michael gave me a call to check on how I was dealing with the potential death of my step-father. I thanked him for that, and also thanked him for giving my mother helpful advice.

Today, his wife Sabrina called me, also to check on how I was doing. She repeated their offer to help in any way they could, and I thank her for that too.
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My step-father is hanging on. On the one hand, the cardiologists say that his heart is only functioning at 7% normal. Since my step-father has refused angioplasty or any other invasive forms of treatment, it's pretty certain he's not going to get better. On the other hand, his eyes open in response to stimulation, and once his…

I feel paralyzed. I feel like I can't make any long-term plans, because at any moment my mother may call to tell me that my step-father has passed away, and I'll have to fly out to California. If this is how I feel, 3000 miles away and in relative comfort, how must my mother feel sitting in the hospital?…

My step-father has had another heart attack. This one is severe. He's not expected to regain consciousness. I'm not sure what happens next. Thanks to discussion initiated by Michael, the funeral wishes are clear. But what this means for my mother... I don't know. She lives in CA, I'm in NY. We'll just have to figure it…