How do you deal with loss?

[SunsetBengal]

It's tough to suddenly lose someone close to you. A few years ago, I had a cousin who was my same age, that I was close to growing up. He went from being healthy and active, to feeling ill on a weekend camping at a lake, to dead on Monday. Turns out that he had lived his entire life without knowing that his heart only had 3 valves. He was just 47. It hit me rather hard, like a message that let me know that no matter what, everything can end in the blink of an eye.

I'm not a particularly religious individual, but I do believe that there is a spirit inside of our Earthly bodies. I like to think that when we pass, our spirits live on. So the way to cope is to celebrate the life of the one you lost with the others that loved them, keep them alive in your heart, and try to find peace in the notion that their spirit may be in a better place.