Sad news

My mother called today and told me that my cousin has died from a heart attack. He was only thirty-four years old. It's a shock. He has a wife and a young son. He seemed quite healthy when I saw him last summer at the family reunion. So young to die. His family has been through a lot. His father died this year, as well. I really don't know what to think. After Mom told me this morning, I spent a good while just being held by my husband. It wasn't as if I was exceptionally close to my cousin, but he was always there at big family gatherings. I remember this past year people joking about his son being a little "Mini-Me" for him. I never would have expected him to die so young. If anyone in his family were to die, I would have expected his brother in the military serving overseas, not him. Why did he die so young? He isn't that much older than me. I remember playing with him and his younger brother when I was a kid.

When Mom left a message this morning saying she had soon bad news, I was fearing that my grandmother, or my great-aunt, or my father, or possibly even my little niece had something happen. I didn't expect a cousin to be struck down in the prime of his life. I really don't know what to think about this.