I guess part of it depends on if you believe in an afterlife. We believe we will see the ones we love again when we die. We have also tried to teach our children that everyone/everything dies eventually--it is normal and okay. We are not supposed to live forever. And that the person who died is happy in heaven and it is just us that are sad because we miss them, and that's okay. I currently have a sister dying from cancer. She lives far away so they hardly know her, but I feel I am teaching them a little now by how I react to it.