Family.

Today I got a call from my older sister informing me of a tragic accident in my mother's hometown in Mexico. A large number of my mother's family works in the sugarcane fields of Jalisco out by Tala/Ameca (if you happen to know that area). Its customary for the men who work out on the sugarcane fields to ride on top of the big diesel trucks with the loaded sugarcane. Not sure how it happened, but the truck driver struck head on with a tree and 12 men lost their lives. 2 of those men are confirmed to be my cousins. Another 3 of my cousins who also work with the same company are still missing. We don't know if they were on the truck or another one or even still out on the fields. This is a huge blow to my family, especially since my aunt passed away in December of last year, our matriarch in the family. I feel like our family is missing huge holes now. I don't even know who trips back to Mexico will be like with all of these family members missing. I keep thinking back to my cousin's families and their children. They were both in their mid 30s, young and strong men. My mother departs tonight for Guadalajara for the funeral and novenario. The novenario is a 9 day public prayer service where condolences are given to the family(-ies). During this period a lot of people come by to give their condolences, even if they did not know the deceased very well. Of course, food is bountiful and the immediate family is present for all 9 days of prayer.

I really dislike having to deal with death and grief in my family, but as I grow older it seems to be ever more present than before. How to even cope with people passing away in general is hard, its even harder when its your own family members.