re: What happens the moment we learn someone we love has died ?

We grieve over the death of any loved one. I still miss my Dad who died in August of 2003 after living with the results of a massive stroke in late 1997. This strong self-made successful man lived his last years totally dependent. I prayed that he would die. When he died it did not lessen the loss I felt for him even though he was "gone" for many years before his actual death. But I was relieved that he was no longer suffering.

On the other hand, when my nephew was killed in a small plane crash in August 2002 at the age of 23 I was crushed. I learned of it when I called one of my sisters to sing her Happy Birthday from my car after playing golf. I was doing my Bill Murray lounge lizard version and could hear my sister crying. I thought, "Damn, I've gotten good at this!" When I finished she said, "I guess you haven't heard. JP was killed in a small plane crash this morning." I nearly drove off the road I was crying so hard.

I cannot imagine what my brother, his wife, and 3 other kids went (and are still going) through. The death of a young person is simply heart-breaking. I know that my brother's family will never be the same.

When I speak of death, I usually in a cavalier fashion throw out the line "Nobody gets out alive." But the death of a young person is gut wrenching and hard to ever get over.

If my Faith is indeed true, the dead would not come back for anything. While we mourn the dead, we are truly sad for our own loss.