Coping with the death of a loved one

I am not sure what it is lately but I have had people all around me dying.  It is a very odd feeling.  I haven't lost a parent or anyone really close to me thanks goodness.  But I have had several friends lose someone close to them and had two extended family deaths on both my side and my wife's side of the family.  I almost feel like I am the center of a bulls eye and the darts keep getting a little closer.  All this death has caused me to reflect on how people deal and or cope with the death of loved ones.

I know coping is very different for everyone so I am going to tell you how I do it, and how I hope I will be able to cope when it comes time for me to lose someone close to me such as a parent.  I believe that we are children of God, I know this actually.  Because we are children of God I believe that the whole point to this life is for us to see what we are made of, in other words how do we deal with hardship and grief and pain and morality.  I also believe that God loves us far more than we could ever possible comprehend in this life, and that he knows each of us very well, better than we know ourselves.  That being said here is how I look at it when I am faced with a death.  I look at it like they have finished the marathon, they have crossed the finish line and the reward is to live in peace and comfort and never ending happiness.  I really think that with this perspective it is much easier to cope with the loss of a loved one.  Even with children, they came to earth they lived as long as they needed to and they are done.  But most important of all I know we can all be reunited when we die.  I know we will see them again and that we will never have to be separated again.

I know that I packed a lot of different thoughts into a small paragraph, if you should have any questions on what I believe please leave me a comment and I will be happy to either explain more or point you towards the information.

That is all