I told her

"My mommy's daddy just died" said Joy as she looked at her friends as they had finished with their tracing for today and Miss Lolly had told them to stay very quiet with the others finished their work as well.

"That is not nice" said Leon as he shook his head.

"Very not nice" said Prince as he shook his head.

"Oh I am sorry Joy, are you sad?" asked Clarita as she looked at Joy.

"No, I am not sad, but my mommy is very sad" said Joy sadly as she nodded her head.

"So I told her not be sad" said Joy.

"Do you think it worked?" asked Prince and Joy shook her head sadly.

"My mommy says that when people die it's very painful and very, very sad" said Clarita as she shook her head.

"Yes same, my mommy also says so too" said Prince as she nodded his head.

"You mean our mommy" said Leon.

"Well yes, it's the same thing" said Prince as he nodded his head.

"But you look sad Joy" said Leon as he just scoffed at his brother and he turned to look at Joy.

"Yes I am sad because my mommy is sad, I do not want her to be sad" said Joy as she shook her head.

"What about your daddy, is he sad?" asked Clarita as the four of them were having a little conversation on their table.

"Well he is also not happy, but my mommy was crying, I saw her tears, and she had red eyes" said Joy sadly.

"What did your Grandfather die of?" asked Prince and Leon hit him.

"Ouch, what was that for?" asked Prince as he turned to look at Leon with annoyance.

"Mommy has warned you to stop asking stupid questions" said Leon as he shook his head, how could Prince just ask what Joy's Grandfather had died from just like that??

"It is okay Leon" said Joy as she smiled at Leon as he still shook his head.

"My mommy said that her daddy died from a heart attack, do you know what that is?" asked Joy and Leon, Clarita and Prince all shook their heads.

"My mommy said that a heart attack is when something called a achoo gets blocked and then the heart stops beating" said Joy as she explained and she nodded her head.

"Ahhhh okay" said Leon, Clarita and Prince as they all nodded their heads at the same time.

"What is all the noise about over here?" asked Miss Lolly as she finished helping another table and she walked over to Joy's table.

"Miss Lolly, Joy's mommy's daddy just died, and we are trying to find a way to make Joy's mommy not sad anymore" said Clarita as she raised her hand.

"Clarita, I told you that you only raise your hand when you want to answer a question, or volunteer to read the Alphabet for us" said Miss Lolly as she was surprised, she had heard a lot of mommies in Clarita's sentence, and well she wondered how children of nowadays were always so mature, she was shocked, she did not think that she was speaking of death when she was their age.

"And Joy, I am so sorry that your Grandfather passed away" said Miss Lolly as she turned to look at Joy and she smiled sadly at her, loosing a relative was not easy for children at this age, or at any age for that matter.

"It is okay Miss Lolly, I am not sad, but my mommy is" said Joy as she looked at Miss Lolly.

"Well if I may tell you something my dear" said Miss Lolly.

"Sometimes adults just want to be sad, the same way you all want to be happy, it's a way for them to balance their emotions" said Miss Lolly as she explained.

"Would you be happy if Clarita, Leon and Prince all stopped going to school?" asked Miss Lolly.

"No Miss Lolly, I would be very sad" said Joy as she shook her head, she did not want to miss her friends.

"You see Joy, the same way you will be sad if Clarita, Leon and Prince stopped coming to school, is the same way your mommy feels" said Miss Lolly.

"You don't expect her to be happy that her father passed do you?" asked Miss Lolly and Joy, Leon, Clarita and Prince all shook their heads.

"You see children, it's all a matter of understanding" said Miss Lolly as she smiled.

"But I do not want my mommy to remain sad for long" said Joy as she shook her head.

"Believe me Joy, she won't be sad for long, she just needs some time, and you will see, she will feel better" said Miss Lolly as she smiled.

"Do you feel better now Joy?" asked Miss Lolly as she smiled.

"Mhmm yes Miss Lolly, thank you" said Joy as she smiled.

"You are welcome dear" said Miss Lolly as she smiled.

"And do you all understand now?" asked Miss Lolly as she looked at the others.

"Yes Miss Lolly" said Clarita, Leon and Prince as they smiled.

"Good" said Miss Lolly as she smiled.

"Now it is breaktime" said Miss Lolly and all the children celebrated as they stood up from their seats.

…

Natasha sniffed, no matter how much she tried, she just could not go to sleep, once she closed her eyes, her thoughts began to rage, so many unanswered questions, so many.

"I can't do this" said Natasha to herself as she sniffed, she took her phone, she needed something to distract herself, and in that moment she received a text that made her smiled, it was from Chloe, Natasha decided to call her and in that moment, her call was picked up almost instantly.

"Helloo Natasha" came Chloe's jovial voice from the other side of the line.

"Hi Chloe" said Natasha as she smiled, once she heard Chloe's voice, she just had to smile.

"How are you?" asked Chloe with a smile.

"I am not good…" said Natasha as she replied honestly.

"I don't think I will be coming to the office anytime soon…my…my dad just passed" said Natasha as she sniffed, she could not say just like that, it was still so painful.

"Oh my… Natasha, are you alright?? What happened?? Are you okay?" asked Chloe as the smile on her face immediately dropped as she sounded worried and concerned.

"I am alright Chloe" said Natasha as she blew her nose with a tissue.

"Oh my Natasha, I am so, so sorry, what happened?" asked Chloe.

"He was doing fine, he was healthy and suddenly, I just got a call that changed everything" said Natasha.

"Oh Natasha, you must feel horrible" said Chloe as she sighed and she shook her head, this was just too much for Natasha to bear.

"Horrible cannot even describe how I am feeling" said Natasha.

"My mom died when I was very young, so my dad has been the only parent I know, and now… well… he's in a better place" said Natasha as she sighed and she smiled sadly.

"Oh Natasha, dealing with death isn't… it isn't easy at all" said Chloe as she sighed, she could not even begin to imagine just how bad Natasha felt right now, she needed a friend.

"Just know that whatever you need, I am here" said Chloe.

"And just take the whole month off if you please, I will handle everything trust me" said Chloe as she smiled.

"Oh Chloe, I know that I can count on you, thank you" said Natasha as she smiled.

"You are welcome, just please rest well, and don't neglect your health" said Chloe.

"You do deserve to grief, but don't lose yourself in the process" said Chloe.

"Thank you Chloe, I won't" said Natasha as she smiled.

"And what about the funeral, have you planned it yet?" asked Chloe.

"Well, my husband is taking care of that, and his funeral is on Saturday" said Natasha as she sniffed.

"Oh my, so soon?" asked Chloe.

"That is how he would have wanted it" said Natasha as she smiled.

"I see" said Chloe.

"You can come by, I would really appreciate it if you did" said Natasha as she smiled.

"I promise you, I will be there" said Chloe as she smiled.

"Thank you Chloe" said Natasha, she really had a true friend.

"No need to thank me Natasha, just get some rest" said Chloe as she smiled.

"I will, thank you Chloe… you really are a true friend" said Natasha as she smiled.

"Anytime Natasha, anytime" said Chloe as she smiled.

"Get better soon Natasha" said Chloe as she smiled.

"I will…Thank you" said Natasha as she smiled and she ended the call, she felt so much better now, even though she still felt sad, but as Grandfather had said, it just took some time… she needed more time, even though she did not think that it would do anything at all.