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her eyes. No one seemed to know for sure the level or degree of unhappiness that many felt she was endeavoring to mask, but speculation ran high that she was trying to cover up marital issues. Struggling to maintain the façade that her marriage to Chaz Higgs was a solid union, those on the outside looking in could see that trouble was brewing on the horizon; they thought that the marriage wouldn’t last. The stresses in her life had begun to show in the lines on her face, and through her growing impatience in dealing with even simple matters. No one, however, even in their wildest dreams, ever imagined that it would be her death that would end it.
    Born Kathy Marie Alfano on May 29, 1956, a Tuesday, in Los Angeles, California, to a good, respectable Italian-American family. Kathy, the oldest of three children, was raised in the suburbs of Southern California by loving and caring parents, who taught her and her two brothers strong personal values, such as to always be honest, caring, and giving. Her parents, Phil and Kay Alfano, still reside in northern Orange County.
    Tuesday’s child is full of grace . If there’s one thing that Kathy possessed, at least from an outward, physical perspective, it was grace, and it exhibited itself in the form of poise, refinement, and beauty despite her often bullish character. Her family always seemed very proud of her, and they nearly always supported her in whatever she chose to do. In her youth, she seemed to fulfill all their hopes and dreams, and by the time she finished high school, they firmly believed that she would turn out the way most parents hope and pray their children will. She had given them no reason to believe otherwise. However, somewhere along the path of life, the values that had been encouraged by her family seemed to partially disappear as she became hardened and, some would say, ruthless in her dealings with others. It may have been the failed marriages, or it may have been the taste of political power that had caused her to take the turn at the fork in the road that led her down a different path from where she had started. Whatever it was, something had changed her and turned her into the ruthless, hard-nosed person that she had become at the time of her death.
    Kathy’s passion for politics began while still in high school. Always pushing herself to her limits, while all the other kids were out having fun, Kathy took her studies seriously. Instead of partying during the weekend nights, Kathy was ambitious and driven. She spent much of her spare time studying and doing her homework, and for a high-school student, she took the word “tenacious” to a new level. She also participated in various aspects of the student body programs, and would graduate salutatorian for all of her hard work.
    Prior to graduation from high school, she was awarded the much coveted Lyndon B. Johnson Internship Grant and worked in Washington, D.C., as a congressional intern for the 38th District of California. According to her mother, it was the internship that had cemented her interest in politics, hook, line, and sinker. She had become so engrossed in political affairs and principles that there was no chance of her ever shaking loose, even if she had wanted.
    Following graduation from high school and after completing the short internship during her first year in college, Kathy went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science from Occidental College, a small, no-nonsense private liberal arts institution conveniently tucked away about halfway between Pasadena and West Hollywood. After Occidental, she went on to earn a master’s in public administration (an MPA) from California State University at Long Beach.
    After receiving her Master of Public Administration, Kathy went to work for Delta Airlines. Her first job there was in crew scheduling, but later she took a position as a flight attendant. This was back in the days when a female flight attendant was still known as a