Final Goodbye

I came to work thinking that today I would share some of my horrifying travel experiences, but then I got some bad news from a friend of mine, about a death in her family. That has taken my mind to my past, which has a loss of a loved one etched deeply. I am talking about my dad whom we lost, when my brother and I were still young to comprehend how final death is. I am not going to go into the sordid details, suffice to say that this was a sudden occurence and since our family was living out of the country at the time, we were devastated with no family support whatsoever to help us wade through the initial grief strucken days.
I do remember quite vividly, how our friends helped us cope and made sure that the necessary arrangements were made. I think that period in our life was an eye opener and made us aware of who our "true friends" were. It is so easy to party and share celebrations, but the true test of a person is when he/she comes through when a celebration becomes a misery of mammoth proportions. People have often told me - "We dont know what to say or do to make it better" and my reply to that is "Its not necessary to say anything, its just enough to be there, with your presence. That speaks a thousand words". Just remember that we can never understand or even pretend to understand what such a loss means. So dont bother with the words, just be there for your friend !