Baruch dayan emet

[xiphias]

My upstairs neighbor died.

My thoughts and prayers are with her daughter marquisedea, who doesn't deserve this.

Anna has had cancer for years now, and her death wasn't unexpected. But marquisedea is only nineteen, maybe twenty if I've missed her birthday. And she's had quite a bit more than her share of shit in the last couple years.

I have faith that Anna's okay. She has nothing further to worry about. But Sami's the one I worry about, because she has to live with it.

For Christians on my friends list: what do Christians do instead of sitting shiva? What is there I can do for Sami?

And, Sami, what is there Lis and I can do for you?

Comments

[aranel.livejournal.com]

Some people send or bring flowers. Some families prefer donations to flowers.

There is often a groudswell of help and support right after a death that tapers off just when the numbing effect of shock starts to give way--when the bereaved stop saying, "It hasn't hit me yet." Support in the coming weeks/months is equally crucial, if not more so. If you are close to the bereaved, you might help them sort and reply to correspondents, or be there for them as they go through the possessions of the deceased, or call various companies who need to be notified (anyone who sends the deceased mail, pretty much).