Mourning Death

We all have been touched by death and it's effects. Many of us have known someone who had died: a family member, a relative, a close friend, a teacher, a student, a peer, a coworker. Some are expected. Some are unexpected. Either way, we mourn their loss in our lives.

Often, we mourn all the might-have-beens, might-have-becomes and might-have-dones. Either our own in relationship to them or their own. We mourn. We weep.

Death is a very sad event. No matter what the circumstances.

Today we received a call informing us that one of my cousins passed away.

She left behind a husband, three boys, her siblings and their spouses, her nieces and nephews, her parents, her aunts and uncles, her cousins, her friends. She's left behind a lot. She's left behind a lot of memories and holes in everyone she's come into contact with. Without her in the world there's a space of emptiness.

She always added more good in the world. In her own way and style. Without her there is so much time ahead where she could have done so much more. But she's left.

And we mourn.

It can be hard to comfort those that mourn. We try to say the right thing. But often there is no right thing to say. You can't really say that she's gone on to a better place or that she was needed more on the other side. She was a mother and a wife. That's her divine role. Honestly, I doubt there was anything more important than that.

But we can do what we can. We can do our little actions. We can simple mourn with them. We can share our memories of her. We can help recognize her influence in our lives. We can become better people. We can help those immediately affected. We can make sure to be involved in her kids lives. We can make sure to help the family get back on their unsteady feet. We can realize that it's not something that totally disappears.

We can help them find comfort in the fact the our Savior knows how they are feeling. We can help them know that their Savior loves them and watches over them. We can let them know we also love them. We can remind them that someday, they will be reunited. It might be a long time. But if we live the best we can, then we'd have forever with them. That's the miracle of God's Plan of Happiness. We will live forever with our loved ones if we do the best we can and turn to the Savior when we make mistakes.

UPDATE: Turns out that a friend of my sister and all of the Young Women in my ward also died. Along with her friend. Her younger sister is in critical condition. This is the news article.

UPDATE: The obituary for my cousin.