Death is the one single destination that we as humans all share. No matter your race, religion, etc. We all share it. But our own death doesn’t affect us. The death of our loved ones affects us the most. Our loved ones are the ones who get us through those hard times and those rough patches that we experience.  

They know and see our struggles. So when we lose them, it is like a part of us is being ripped away from us. And we’re just left there with only half of us left. The people we surround ourselves with and commune with offer their support while we grieve the loss. 

Mary Babb, a licensed Therapist for Bring Hope Counseling, also accounts that the person grieving still needs their needed space. 

“The people or surroundings can profoundly affect the one grieving and the grief process,” Babb said. “It is important to give the one experiencing the loss whatever amount of time they need to grieve in whatever way they need to process it. There is no timeline on grief and no one ‘right’ way to grieve.”

As Babb states, there is no “right” way to grieve, and every person has their own way of doing this. 

For junior Yoslen Robaina Santana, while he grieved the loss of his grandfather, he recognized something profound. 

“The death of my loved one showed me how little I really loved them,” Robiana Santana said. “It sounds terrible to say, but losing my grandfather was like losing a father to me and made me realize how little I made an effort to be with him.”  

After realizing these things, the way he coped with the situation was unique to him.

“It made me value time more than money or material things,” Robiana Santana said. “I coped with it by trying to forget, but that never works. Problems need to be faced, not forgotten.”

The death of a loved one also shows how we shouldn’t take them for granted and cherish them

 Furthermore, it can affect mental and emotional health. According to Ohiospf.org, when you go through an experience like this, your mood will shift, and you will notice intense emotional changes as you deal with the loss of a loved one.  

Guidance Counselor Karin Combs offers some insight into how this might affect a person.

“A person may become depressed or [experience] an overall general sadness and may have a feeling of being lost depending on the nature of the relationship,” Combs said. “Sometimes people may feel shock and disbelief and have a hard time accepting what happened.”

The Pavilion at Williamsburg Place states that death also affects physical health, not only emotional and mental. As well as Combs states some of these effects on physical health. 

“Not sleeping, not eating, exhaustion and not being able to think clearly or focus on other things,” Combs said.

Even though death is something we all share, it’s the final destination of this life. We should strive to cherish our loved ones to make those memories of a lifetime. And never taking them for granted.

“I never got to say goodbye,” Robiana Santana said. “This showed me how fragile life is and how unpredictable it can be.”