My parents always took me to wakes. They told me that the person was dead and that they're not coming back. Of course, I'd cry, I'd miss that person. They never told me not to cry. My mother used to tell me "Cry, cry all you want. The time will come when your tears will stop. It could be today, it could be next year, next month or even a couple of years down the road, but your tears will stop. The time will come when your tears will stop."

They used to tell me that God is all-loving. When a person dies, that's not the end. They're just passing on to another world. In my culture, passing-on, we'll all pass on some day. They used to tell me that you'd see this person when your time comes. They were just going ahead of us.

When a person is very sick, or on the threshold of death, not to cry for this person, not to openly cry for this person. Wait until after they're dead and gone, and you start crying then. They used to tell me that when a person is on their deathbed and you're crying, you're stopping them. You're stopping from passing on. That was not a good sign. God was taking this person, and your time will come when you will go.