Death and Relations Can be Painful

Death of Two Brothers --2014

Death of Two Brothers --2014

My best friend in elementary school married my best first cousin.  We had promised over the years that we would marry each other's brothers, but that was not to be.  My brother married someone from Florida, and I married a man from North Carolina.  However, she did marry my first cousin.  Since first grade, we have been friends.  We communicate over the phone from time-to-time, but it only takes a moment for us to start talking like we had not been apart ever.

Today, the reason for this post is that she buried one brother last week and today another brother died.  She comes from a large poor family, but a close knit and loving family.  Over the years she has suffered many losses including the loss of her favorite brother who served in the military and served our Country well. 

In January, I moaned and groaned about the loss of my brother, Jimmy.  I am and have been lost without him for days, but today, I stepped into my friend Ruby's shoes, and knew that I would nor know what to do with such great loss so close together.  She has not had time to grief the loss of the first brother and today, she has to face the loss of another one.

What do you say to her?  What can you say to her?  How do you even try to relate to her grief?  I sit here and ponder these questions because I feel so helpless.  I cannot feel her pain, but oh I do relate to her pain.