hello Joe,
I'm sorry for your personal loss, those are days in my life that I do not look forward to.

As far as the plant, first thing I would do is take cuttings. Make sure what ever knife/razor you use is sharp and sterile. Not having seen your plant, what has worked for ME (a hot and dry enviro)is to cut the "leaf" of the cacti on a diagonal, from areole(?)(the place where the spines are) to areole. Try to take at least 6" of it and allow it to callus for a week or longer in a moist enviro. Do not leave it in the sun during this time. For the soil, for ME, I would place some coir/peat mix with perlite, orchid bark, maybe some coarse grit or sand. All of this in the oven at 300 for 10-15min. Allow to cool and place in a small sterile pot with drainage. I insert the well callused cacti, cut side into the soil. I soak the whole pot from the bottom with filtered water that has just a bit of B-1. I allow the soil to almost dry before light top watering begins. Place this in a brite area, no direct sun though. With some epis, covering the cutting with a plastic bag that you vent helps, others it will rot. Some people root their callused epies in water also, use clean water and change it once a week or more. When you see roots forming, consider plating at this time.

For the plant, a pot the next size up should work, you will want to use a light soil mix, with some of the ingredients listed above. These are epiphytic cacti that grow in trees and as such they can survive on fallen tree debri and whatever else catches in the crevices of trees. Depending on your enviro depends on the ratio of ingredients you use. I tend to make mine more "humusy" because if not I would need to water multiple times a day in the summer. The basic idea is fast draining and light. Other additives I've read about, stryofoam (food grade not degradable), leaf mulch, forrest duff, etc.

You might consider browsing a site like Epiforums, there are some VERY smart people there, unfortunately I'm not one of them.

One more reccomendation, once you have everything settled, consider trading cuttings of your plant with friends and other gardeners. Not only will you be spreading the joy of epies, but the memories of your parents and their neighbor. Also if something horrible happens to your plant, contact the people you gave cuttings to and voila you plant is still alive just smaller.

good luck,
-Ethan

Ethan, great advise. I just use my cactus mix, and add sterile leaf mould/orchid bark Remember these plants like to be crowded before flowering. I often take the old plant out of its pot, clean off any dead old roots, and repot it back in the same pot with the new refreshed mix. I don't use Peat Moss because that is not what they grow in when in the jungles. You can just add orchid bark as well, use the medium size. CACTUS AND SUCCULENTS SIMPLEY DO NO GROW IN PEAT MOSS. Norma

Ethan, Norma:

Thanks for your help! Your advice is top-notch, and as soon as I get back home (I am away for the weekend), I will get to work, taking cuttings first, and then a bit later, re-potting.

I never want anything bad to happen to my plants, but since this one is so special, the thought of working on it has been causing anxiety!

I especially like the idea of passing cuttings on to friends who enjoy houseplants and gardening.

Thanks again,

Joe

Joe yes the plant you have is a the best make new poringpotting soil. I use spagnammoss ,playsand,and perlite and when I needed to cut the plant leave to make a new plant boil water or use rubbing alcohol on your scissors cut to the top of the leaf let it dry in a dark place for two weeks and then make soil again but do not water the new cutting spray the soil lightly i place it into a zip lock bag or placed it into a plastic cup added on on top with tape and kept it out of sunlight until I saw the roots on the sides of the cupwhen the roots reached the bottom of the cup i remove them into a small pot until the plant fell over the just kept going to pot by pot now I have different plantplants that are growing together in one pot. I have a mix of epiphyllum in one pot.