I have recently shared the sorrow of losing not one but two uncles, both well before their time, and both treasured members of my family. 

Out of loss has come sadness but also a renewal of connections and values. Families and friends have leaned on one other, shared memories and told old stories, not merely to mourn the ones who were lost but as a promise to carry their memories and ideals forward.

I hesitate to draw any broader lessons from our loss, especially since one of those uncles skewered talk with any hint of pretentiousness. On the other hand, my uncle was a lifelong advocate for peace, justice, and simple decency, and for him the personal and the political couldn’t be separated. (He spoke slowly and simply but with tremendous insight and power; my ramblings are a poor substitute but they’ll have to do.)

He might say that loss is inescapable. That everything we have and everything we are will soon disappear- except in the memories and values we leave behind in our circle of loved ones. And finally, that the only unredeemable loss is if we who are left behind react by abandoning those values or breaking our connections with one another. The choice is once again ours to make.