It's making for a very rough weekend. I have not had anyone close to me die since high school, and have never been in the position to help someone through it.
So far, he has been handling it pretty well. We visited his grandfather on Monday, thought he was going to have heart surgery, but he went into transitional care here in town, got there and was unresponsive within 24 hours, so they sent him back to the major hospital. He died on Thursday evening, and FI was there when it happened
Tonight we went to the wake...I have never stood in a "receiving" line for a funeral. It was basically immediate family...his mom, dad, aunt, uncle, cousin and his wife, his brother, and him and I. It was the most awkward thing ever for me. I knew maybe 3 of the hundreds of people that went through. It was also strange because they would say "sorry for your loss, but congrats on your engagement!" It was extra awkward because I barely knew his grandfather, only met him a handful of times, so I felt worse for people shaking my hand and giving me condolences than I felt sad. I kept telling them sorry, too!
Tomorrow is the mass for him, then we go out to the cemetary. I'm dreading this. I know we will get through it, and I know everyone hates funerals, but I just feel so helpless since there is nothing I can say to make anyone stop crying
Sorry for rambling...and prayers for his family would be greatly appreciated. His aunt is having an EXTREMELY hard time. She keeps saying she let him down, but he was 86 yrs old and had congestive heart failure...there is not a thing she could have done differently