How you ever lost a beloved family member, be it your mum, dad, your siblings, or even a closed uncle or aunty. How about a close friend?
On hearing it for the first time, which is the hardest part, what was you first reaction..
Or maybe you were there when it happened, and s/he died in your arms, what was it like and your first reaction..?
Though we don't always like to reminience on this kind of past events, but if you can, share...

Sad memories
It was Feb 14 this year,my darling sis was taken to the hospital cos she was critically ill.
She couldn't sleep,she only did when she layed her head on me
She couldn't eat,she only did when I fed her
and at dawn,the doc confirmed there's nothing much he can do medically,he actually suggested we take her home for traditional care...We took the advise,on the 15th,while my mum was taking her to the village at about 3pm,I called mum to know how far they've gone and she broke the news,"look Odinaka,she's dead".
At that moment,my phone fell into the stew I was using to eat bread,I started seeing her in my clothes,I started hearing her call me,she was there with me eating and smiling.
I wanted to cry but no tears came..and then I began to realise how much I love her..

The memories began to replay.,our days together,everything.

Enough.

Smartsyn:

On hearing it for the first time, which is the hardest part, what was you first reaction.....

Picked a pen knife and stabbed myself to death.

LyndaRoyce:

Picked a pen knife and stabbed myself to death.

RIP

Thank God

Ahh.. When my GRANDMA died, I was really devastated. It was the first death I've witnessed but it didn't scare me as I continued to live in the house alone. But I cried terribly on that night, when the ambulance took her away and by her graveside.
But three years on, my GRANDPA died, which I witnessed as well. I didn't even shed a tear, just came close to doing so when the ambulance took him away. But I couldn't sleep in the house anymore. I joined my cousins for quite a few days.
I think the difference is while my Grandma died still brimming of life even on her last day, my Grandpa died amidst terrible pains till his last day, perhaps emotional too, because his health suffered a steady decline after my Grandma's death.
He will be buried on October 17th.

I lost a cousin some months back, and it is funny I heard about his death on facebook. I was in denial till his funeral. I just couldn't believe I would never see him again. I mean, someone I had always imagined how our kids would be very close second cousins and go party together. Someone that was so full of life. It was just so hard to believe he was gone forever. It kinda made me realize that we can die anytime, and that it is best not to keep procrastinating... do what you want to do now, cos tomorrow might be too late.

Closest death was that of my dear, sweet, darling Father. I was in school then, my mum called my friend to break the news to him, they couldn't tell me directly cos me n the baba toooo close.
When he sha later told me, i just sat n stared. i was waiting for the tears, nothing came. Then at night, see me on full display, i waka enter bush sef dey scream n cry, pple had to come hold me.

The most PAINFUL part about the whole thing was that i couldn't attend the funeral cos we were writing exams during that period. Imagine, someone i told "Daddy, see u soon", i came home to meet him dead n buried. Not an easy thing, i tell ya.

I had two brothers, one elder and the other younger. On 25th of April this year, my elder sister called me and said I should come home, I was alone shopping and I wasn't done. I knew something was wrong because she can't just ask me to return home when she knows I'm still busy

I started panicking, I asked after my parents she said they're fine so I started asking about my siblings. When I got to my elder brother her voice changed, I kept asking until she said he's sick that I should come home

When I got home, I knew from the look on people's faces that it's not mere sickness, he died. I lost all touch with reality that moment, I started begging God to bring him back and take me. He wasn't sick, he just slumped and died at work, just like that without any goodbye and he was only 36. Now we have only one son, this life is just something else but God knows why he died, He alone knows.

I still can't believe he's gone, Chijioke my sweet big bro, I LOVE YOU FOREVER!!

This is a very sad thread...

Disbelief.

shock

April 18th 2007 is day i will never forget, on d 17th, i went to my mamami's house just to say hello Bt i met her absence, so i waited for her to come back, but when she came back she was not feeling too fine that day, so i decided to sleep over at her place but when we woke up the next morning, d sicknes weaken all her body so we took her to the hospital, she died before we got there. That morning i prayed liked av never pray before so as for to wake up, but she has left. For more than a week, i was thinking that maybe she will wake up but not until after the burial that i realized that mamami is not coming back. After the burial i just lost my voice for more than a month ( not because of cry or party o), i just couldn't cry after d first day of her death. I was in a big shock. MAMAMI SUN RE O.

One very close person I lost was my teacher in school (tertiary). She was so nice she touched us in special ways. A mother in all ramifications. That day we were supposed to have a class with her but she went to pick her husband someplace not too far. We called, she picked and said she'll soon be with us.....but she never came.

The next morning we learnt she was involved in a fatal car crash on her way back to school. Her husband survived but she died. I was shocked, in disbelief. The next time I laid eyes on her was during the lying in state. I had this hard lump in my throat that was just choking but I didn't cry. At the graveside, the officiating minister asked us to wave goodbye and that's when the heavy reality washed over me. Goose pimples, head swelling and oh.... Well, I still miss her and her obituary bulletin is still looking fresh in my chest of drawers.

Odilafta:
Sad memories
It was Feb 14 this year,my darling sis was taken to the hospital cos she was critically ill.
She couldn't sleep,she only did when she layed her head on me
She couldn't eat,she only did when I fed her
and at dawn,the doc confirmed there's nothing much he can do medically,he actually suggested we take her home for traditional care...We took the advise,on the 15th,while my mum was taking her to the village at about 3pm,I called mum to know how far they've gone and she broke the news,"look Odinaka,she's dead".
At that moment,my phone fell into the stew I was using to eat bread,I started seeing her in my clothes,I started hearing her call me,she was there with me eating and smiling.
I wanted to cry but no tears came..and then I began to realise how much I love her..

The memories began to replay.,our days together,everything.

Enough.

You should sue that doctor. Did he even say what she had. Very incompetent doctor. Sorry for your loss.


I have not experienced a close family member that I know very well passing and I thank God but I had a dream last night regarding my grandma and it felt pretty horrible and painful, the emotions were so intense in the dream that I woke up and heard myself crying in real time.

I have experienced a couple of family friends passing and it was not nice at all. The last one was a very good friend of my aunt and she was with us chrismas 2011 and it was so sad seeing her, I sensed she could pass at anytime because she was ill and looked far from her former self. Couple of months later in march , I got a call saying she passed. She fell from her bed and because she had respiratory issues, she couldn't breathe in the position she was. She could have been saved if only the lady who looks after her was there.

I am broken right now. I lost a friend this morning. Perfect father and husband.
My friend called me twice this morning and i was suprised cos it was unusual of him.
He kept asking if i was fine
The third time he called he just blurted it out" babe your friend A is dead"
It took me like ten seconds to realise who he was talking about.
The next ten minutes are a blurr.
But i am strong. I will cry but i will heal

Mine was last year. When they told me the news I didn't cry. Tears wouldn't come. I got into my car and just drove to someplace and stayed there for hours. No one could reach me. I left my phone at home. Still no tears came. A week later I arrived murtala Mohammed airport and I lost it there. That was the day I knew customs people there have a heart....many consoled me and many joined me in tears.

Life is so unfair

I can never forget that day it was Nov 4th and it was the day of the US presidential election.like my father I love politics so could not wait to get home so I could follow the results and then call to speak to him as I know how keenly he had followed that particular presidential race.I was on the train hubby called me 'where are you' I said 'I am on my way home.'my brother called asked where I was I said I was on the train on my way home.My uncle called and my mums friend in the Uk also called.About three of my friends called to ask where I was and I was even telling one to please put my dad in her prayers as he was ill and in hospital. All these people calling already knew.For some odd reason it never occurred to me why they were calling I just thought they were all calling to say hello.

I got home and hubby was not back.I heard the keys and he came in with his brother in law,his cousin and two of our friends.Funny me I was still chatting" uncle why did you not tell me you were coming today Haa we don't have food o" I just noticed hubby looked morose and was avoiding my eye.Apparently he called all the back up battalion cos he did not even know how to break the news to me His brother in law then told me to sit down and said 'daddy is gone' I said 'gone where' he said 'daddy has gone to be with God' the whole world stopped for like a second I said 'no that can't be possible I spoke to him yesterday mummy said he was responding to treatment' next thing I looked at hubby and I could see he had been crying.I just crumbled in his arms and sobbed my eyes out.We eventually did not sleep that night and he had to take the next two days off work as I was a complete mess.It hurt more that he was buried according to Islamic rights on the same day and I was not there to grieve with my family.It was horrible being apart from my mum and siblings and I truly did not face the full realisation that he was gone until I got to Nigeria.

I miss my dad alooot but I know he is resting.

Eyah.

The closest family members I've ever lost is my maternal cousin and my maternal aunt. My cousin was fourteen years old then and a sickle cell patient. When we got the news, everybody began weeping except me. I was so numb. I just couldn't feel anything. When we got to their house, the atmosphere was so gloomy. My mum did her best to comfort her sister (my aunt and the deceased girl's mother), but me, I didn't cry. I tried to force my tears out but nothing.
It's been ten years now and I still haven't shed a drop. I don't know why. Maybe its because we were not really close.

My aunt died six years ago. She had been ill for many years, so when the news of her death reached us, I just felt sadness, especially for the 8 kids she left behind. She was very close to my mum and her death shook my mum to her bone marrows. My sister and mum wept, but I, try as much as I could, did not shed a single tear. Till date, I still haven't shed one tear. All I feel is numbness...

Make una take heart o
It is well

Awww, these stories touch the heart. I've never witnessed such in my life. Hope that day never comes.

Exactly 10yrs ago, a church member was getting married. My cousin was d head of youth fellowship. He gave his cap to d sister of d lady getting married to sew for him. So d night b4 d wedding, he went to their house to collect his cap. As they (iyawo and sis) alighting the stairs while seeing him off, armed robbers accosted them. They said two 3310 phones in my cousins pocket and they asked him to hand it over to them.

my cousin refused. He struggled with them for a while. Then they sent two bullets straight into his left rib cage just directly at his heart area. He died on d spot! When he didn't come bak that night, his brother went to iyawo's house to check cos it was getting pretty late. When he got there, what he saw is better imagined than experienced.

The wedding ceremony was a sober and quiet one. Iyawo's eyes were so swollen. She cried all night.

His mum was almost going mad. A boy she saw about 15mins ago, died just like that.

sleep on Bright!

Lost my dad wen I was 14,nt until I saw my mum dying day by day 2years after I lost my dad nd I realise my world was falling apart,same day I finished from secondary school,wen I got home nd I saw pple tryn to cheer up I knew sometin was wrong,the only thing I rememberd doin then was crying nd sayn mummy u never said u wld leave...she died in the hands of my broda..continue to rest in the bosom of the lord mum

Feyifahm:
Lost my dad wen I was 14,nt until I saw my mum dying day by day 2years after I lost my dad nd I realise my world was falling apart,same day I finished from secondary school,wen I got home nd I saw pple tryn to cheer up I knew sometin was wrong,the only thing I rememberd doin then was crying nd sayn mummy u never said u wld leave...she died in the hands of my broda..continue to rest in the bosom of the lord mum

This is very touching...it must have been pretty challenging for you.

I lost my cousin on the 1st of this month. It's the most painful experience of my life. I was driving home on the evening of 31st, October, when a senior uncle called me. His voice appeared so depressed and weakened I thought it was stress. I knew something wasn't right when he asked me to pull over and that he wanted to tell me some bad news. I pulled over in panic. He told me my cousin, Dennis, had died.

He was involved in a marine accident somewhere in Bayelsa. He was trapped in the inner room of the capsized executive boat. He was working with the DSS. We are still grieving. I couldn't even console the wife. What a tragedy! A vacuum has been created that will take us years to fill. I was so devastated at the news. The pains are unprecedented; the agony unbearable; the loss irreparable.

He was buried last Friday evening. The entire community was turned into a sea of mourning. It was an untimely death. It's being gloomy for us. He laid motionless in the brown coffin as he lowered into the grave and finally had earth covered it. Dust to dust! I had lost DENNIS!

I pray that God will not allow untimely death to be our portion. We shall meet God at old age.

RIP, #DENNIS.