When you lose someone who's close to you there's not much anyone can say to you to alleviate the pain that you're feeling. If there is one thing that I've learned from losing someone that was close to me it's that you have one more person to look over you. Losing someone, whether they were a family member, someone you saw in the park from time to time that that you had small conversations with, or a friend, death is never easy to deal with.
Once you've experienced the death of a loved one, it changes the way you look at the world, as well as how you proceed to live your life. When I attended my first viewing, my heart broke into a million pieces and I just stood there frozen. I was only 15, so it was difficult for me to wrap my head around things. My friend was also only 15, and the only thing I could think of was "how is this fair?". Of course it's still heart breaking when you lose a grandparent, but when it's someone who wasn't even 30 years old yet and hasn't gotten to experience life, it makes you look at death differently. Who knows what they had ahead of them?
I was angry for a while, so angry, until I realized that I needed to understand that everything happens for a reason. Just because someone leaves this Earth doesn't mean that they aren't still there with you. They know you're hurting, so they leave little reminders of themselves or their time on Earth. Whether it be a place, their family, or even a beer that they used to drink, they are there with you.
Your lost loved one will always be closer than you know it, even if you don't believe in heaven. To me, there is more than this life. Maybe we come back in a different life with new experiences, new friendships, new places, new everything, but no matter what happens there is something more. We will always meet up with our loved ones one way or another. Every second of everyday, they will be watching over you. They'll be there through your struggles, they'll watch you succeed, and they'll watch you experience life. Heaven is closer to this world than you think.
