Because of my sister’s medical condition, I knew I couldn’t just blurt it out over the phone. I wanted to make sure she had someone with her when I delivered the news.
She had no idea that her children’s world had already been turned upside down or that hers was about to be.
Although her and Peter’s relationship hadn’t worked, he was still the father of her kids and someone she had spent many years with. Someone she still loved deeply.
When I finally spoke to her, I used the same calm voice I’d used with the kids and my mum.
“Jane, you need to sit down,” I said.
She went quiet.
Then I said the words no one should ever have to hear:
“Jane… Peter is dead.”
She gasped, and then the panic hit. She began to hyperventilate and shout no.
I explained how they found him in his car.
I reassured her over and over that the kids were okay. That we would get through this. I could hear my dad in the background, trying to comfort her.
This is the thing with sudden death no one is ever prepared.
You might not have the money.
You might not have the house.
You might not have the flexible job, the partner, or the health you would want when it strikes.
And yet, when it happens, you still have to find a way to keep going. To take the next breath. To make the next call. To hold the people you love while their world falls apart even as yours is doing the same.