I don't understand how people are expected to get through the loss of a loved one.... I believe every type of loss is different (parent, child, partner, grandparent) but one is not worse or more painful than the other.  I have lost my fiance and father of my baby girl.. I have never experienced a loss of someone so close to me. I have lost both of my grandfathers, and an uncle but I was very young.  I also lost a good friend 10 years ago.  But nothing could have prepared me for losing the person I wanted to spend my life with... Grow old with.  I had always liked the idea of a soul mate but it wasn't until Chris that I truly believed.. It took losing him to realize that he was/is my soul mate. Something else I don't understand is how "God" can not only take someone from this world when they have people who love and need them but also must either make them watch that person suffer from an illness prior to dying or take them suddenly without any warning so those left behind are slapped in the face with it... I am thankful I did not have to watch Chris suffer prior to dying as he was taken without warning while at work... but to be sitting at home waiting for him to get home from work and not being able to reach him and then 2 ladies show up at my home to tell me he is dead... I had already known since a friend of his worked at the mine and had contacted me so I had family here when the ladies showed up 4 hours after he died but still.... It is beyond cruel for human beings who feel so deeply and without worry of consequence to have to live through these kind of losses...