readoldthings

Yes, absolutely. In one particularly difficult year (the year of my Saturn Return, as it happens) I lost two close family members. One was a young girl, all of 20 years old. The other, my grandfather, was 75, but that didn't make it easier; my brothers and I were raised in his house (along with his 10 natural children!), and he was the only father we'd ever known. I observed that, as painful as these events were, they brought people together like nothing else could have. In my case, I also took up spiritual practice very seriously in the months that followed the second funeral. I also observed that those members of the family who had fallen into atheism were unable to cope with the deaths at all, and quickly spiraled into resentment and reliance on drugs and technological distractions to numb the pain.