Kalia, Beautiful Kalia

3:09 am, January 6, 2011... woke to the sound of my husband crying on the phone. I already knew why. He was scheduled to fly to NH that afternoon to spend time with Kalia before the Good Lord called her home, but it was too late.

I spent the day crying... on the couch, in bed, on the phone, in the car.

I had just seen Kalia two months ago when she drove down to take part in the Jon Stewart Rally for Sanity. We all crammed into a booth at the Silver Diner in Arlington, VA; me, Mike, Lukas, Cody, Micah and Kalia... ate a huge breakfast and laughed at life's random humor.

She looked great, felt great and, if you didn't know any better (which was the case with most of her friends), you would never know she was sick. I could never imagine that would be our last day together. It was the start of a good day, and a good moment to have in rememberance of Kalia.

I came in to work to avoid lying in bed all day and thinking about the source and reason of this run of bad luck, only to avoid co-workers and their expressions that mirror my mindset. I don't have an answer... I don't know why... I only know that my stomach turns and my head throbs and my heart physically aches because a very bright and beautiful light in my life has gone out.