The Death of a Loved One

“Guys, can I see you in here please?” my mom called out to me and my sister.

“Wonder what this about?” my sister told me.

“I have no clue,” I responded.

“You know how God calls people up to be with him sometimes earlier than you expect? I have some very sad and bad news. Your cousin, Katie, died today,” my mom said as we sat down. Almost immediately, we all started to cry.

Katie had been battling with Leukemia for multiple years now, and her body couldn’t take it anymore. This was tough news that I had just received, for me and the rest of my family.

The funeral for her was on a Sunday, with a visitation on Saturday. My family arrived at the hotel in Indianapolis on the Friday before. Most of the rest of my family (grandparents, cousins etc...) had already arrived.

At the visitation was the 1st time I saw Katie’s corpse. I started to cry almost immediately. I went up with my Grandma to the coffin she was laying in and we signed our names on the coffin. The coffin was as white as snow so we could use any color of Sharpee to sign our names. I chose the color blue. My Grandma left a message on the coffin. I would have if I could have thought of anything, but I couldn’t because I was too sad. She then walked with me to get some tissues and helped to comfort me. I was and still am very thankful for her help to get me through this tragedy.
The rest of my family went up and signed their names as well. After that, we talked with my family members about Katie. Some of her friends were there but I didn’t know them very well.

The funeral on Sunday was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve been through my entire life. The preacher from her church was the leader of the funeral. He said some words about how nice, caring, and kind, she was. Then it was time for her mom to say things. This must have been really hard for her as she did her best not to cry, but couldn’t hold it in.
After the funeral, there was a celebration in the church’s cafeteria celebrating her life. There was cake, cookies, and many other of Katie’s favorite foods. This part wasn’t as sad as the funeral and visitation because we were rejoicing in her life, not grieving in her death.
Katie’s death was one of the hardest, if not the hardest thing I’ve gone through my entire life. I was glad that I had a lot of help from my family, and especially my grandmother.