Our family have had two very sad losses within the last year. My cousin's wife died of breast cancer at 49. Very, very sad. I think it was the first time I had to attend a funeral where the person's parents were also there. Funerals are never happy occasions, but it must be terrible to attend your child's funeral. Although there is absolutely no reason why it can't happen, we always seem to feel that it is somehow unnatural, that the older people should go first, but that is not always the way it is.

Also last year, another of my cousins lost her five year old son. It completely devastated the rest of us, so I can't begin to imagine how that feels for his mother. Matthew was born with a heart condition and was going to have to undergo various operations as he grew, he had already had two operations in his lifetime. He was small for his age, but he was happy, lively and playful. He has left a gap in his family out of all proportion to his size.

It's not always morbid to talk about those we loved and are missing; sometimes it also helps us to remember just how lucky we are.