Some thoughts on death

I know it sounds grim, but I've been thinking about death a lot lately. Many of our friends have recently lost loved ones...a mother, a husband, an infant, a grandmother...just to name a few. I was thinking about this last night as I wrote in my journal. Here's a little bit of what I jotted down:

...there have been quite a few tragic, unexpected deaths in the past few months. [Our old ward in Delaware] is going to have a special Enrichment night entitled "I wasn't ready to say goodbye." I'm not sure there's anything you can do to be absolutely ready for the death of a loved one- and there's no way you can really know if you are in fact ready for it, unless it actually happens. There just aren't any "practice runs" to help you prepare. The only thing you can do is remind yourself that we're all here for a short time and that we're all going to die at some point along the way. It's part of Heavenly Father's plan; it has to be part of his plan- it wouldn't work without it. I know I would be stricken with unbelievable grief if anything were to happen to Bobby or Lillian. The only thing that would ultimately and completely help me through it would be my testimony and the gospel- nothing else would be strong enough to make me hold on. I hope I don't have to experience it any time soon, but I hope even more that I could bear it well if it were to happen.