My experiences with death and grief have been many and have involved pets, family, friends, classmates, and members of my school and faith communities. The pain I felt varied depending on the relationship I had with the deceased person and the circumstances of their death. My faith and belief in the afterlife gives me comfort in knowing that they have gone to a better place and that I will see them again one day. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay My first experience with death other than that of a pet occurred in middle school when a boy, Jacob, who was two years younger than me, committed suicide one Friday afternoon. It was a shock to the entire school community and we really didn't know how to process it at first. Even the teachers had difficulties with this. We all attended the funeral over the next few days, and I remember counselors coming from Catholic high schools and charities to meet with us in large groups and individually. Their presence in the school really helped the teachers and those who were struggling with the sadness of Jacob's suicide. My second and third experiences with death were the result of losing two close relatives in the space of a few years. I lost my Uncle Dan, suddenly, to liver failure. He was only 49 years old. I had been able to visit him in hospital in the previous days, but when he was close to death my mother decided not to take me back. It was hard for me, because I wanted to say goodbye to him. He later told me that he thought it would be too difficult for me to see him in the state he was in. I could have coped better with the pain of losing my uncle if I had had the chance to say goodbye to him during his final days. Several years later my grandmother Barbara died from complications of Alzheimer's. I lived in a multigenerational extended family for the first eight years of my life with my uncle and grandmother living with me and my mother. Living my early life with those who are now dead produced a close bond and a great impact on me when they died. I grieved for my uncle, but after the funeral was over my mourning ended. I understood that he was in a better place. With my grandmother it was different. It's been several years since her death, and I still suffer from time to time when I see things that remind me of her and our relationship. During my college years I experienced episodes of grief due to life changes such as moving away for college, death of a classmate, loss of a pet, and broken relationships. The excitement of college was incredible in the first few months: finding new friends, living in the dorms, and having the freedom to do what I liked. However, just a few months later, my boyfriend of three years broke up with me. I was crushed. It has affected every aspect of my life. I experienced great sadness that would sometimes wash over me and then be swept away. I grieved about the future I had planned. I finally got busy with school and my pain and sense of loss eased. Then came the suicide of a classmate I had known since elementary school. We weren't close friends, but we both enjoyed track and field and often talked to and supported each other at events in high school. The funeral was sad and it seemed such a loss for this talented young man with his whole life ahead of him to have given up on life. After the funeral there was a time when I felt pain in the form of sadness for him and his family. The greatest loss came when my pet of 17 years, Sandy, died. Being a daughter,.