Death. Nobody gets through life without it.

     I would imagine that death is easier on those that die, rather than those left behind, but beyond the death of a loved one we will each experience some type of profound loss in our lives. "Profound loss is associated with suffering and comes in many forms:  illness as a loss of heath, disability as a loss of independence, infertility as a loss of hope of having a child, and bereavement as the mortal loss of a loved one in death."  (Ssuccessful Marriages and Families, p.237).
     Losing loved ones to death is something that is familiar to me, and through it I have learned the value of the plan of salvation.  Families can be together forever.  Death is not the end, it is just a passing.
     When I was 12 years old, I lost my 2 year old brother to an accident.  20 years later, I lost my husband to cancer.  I've lost other family members, roommates and friends throughout the years.  Life is unfair and fragile, and yet we live through it.  We live through the loss, and we learn.
     "The thorns that prick, that stick in the flesh, that hurt, often change lives which seem robbed of significance and hope . . .the soul can become like soft clay in the hands of the Master in building lives of faith, usefulness, beauty, and strength."
     I have to say that those times when my loss was the most profound were also the moments when I felt the closest to God.  He came to me in my adversity.  My husband gained perspective on this situation as he faced his own death from cancer.  "Pain and joy are just opposites.  The more pain you feel, the more full and complete your joy."  He saw pain as a reservoir that enlarges with each experience.  Once it has been enlarged, joy comes in and fills that void.  The amount of pain we've felt determines how much potential joy we can feel.  It's a beautiful concept.
     If we look at it this way, pain is not our enemy, it's a teacher, and the Atonement is our means of coping with that adversity.  We were intended to experience the full range of emotions that life has to offer, for without knowing the one, we could not enjoy the other.  We must "taste the biter that [we] may know to prize the good" (Moses 6:55).  Pain and pleasure, sorrow and joy, sickness and health.
     I know that, after the loss of my friend and husband, David, I will certainly be overcome with joy when I see him again.  That I am certain of.

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