I just thought about what might possibly be going through his daughter's head seeing him in that casket. Fuck that hurts
They don't know
They will though in a few years.
It will hit them like a brick...
Anecdote: There's a family from my ward whose young son accidentally drowned over a decade ago while they were having Family Home Evening at the bishop's house. Their eldest daughter was about six at the time, and I remember during the wake she was running around the church building and playing with her friends even though her little brother's body was there, and I don't remember her even shedding tears during the funeral even when we all did a musical send-off (Queen's "We Will Rock You", it was his favorite song).
The next year, I had been called as a primary teacher for the seven-year-olds and so I had her in the classroom. As disrespectful as it may have sounded, she was pretty open about talking about how her brother was dead, but even though she missed him, she wasn't sad about it because she knows they will see each other again, and that her brother clearly had a mission that God wanted him to do. Even though it was hard for her parents at the time (especially since they had just had a baby who needed medical attention when their son died), she didn't seem burdened by it. And as far as I can tell from watching her grow up and go on her mission, it didn't hit her as hard as some people think it should've.
That's the thing about being followers of Christ, you are essentially (should be) taught from a young age that life is precious and fragile, and that death has to come for us all because Jesus wants to help us all come back home to be with God, and the best part is that death isn't permanent because we, too, will be raised up to live again like He did. This is something kids on farms or with pets come to understand quite fast, but not everyone gets that experience. What a lot of parents don't teach because they don't want to scare their children or they think it'd be too hard on them is that death can sometimes be violent and scary-looking because this is the world we live in. It really depends on the parent on how they want to teach small children the concept, so at the very least, telling a young toddler that Daddy is now working with Jesus helps to soften the blow as they can at least comprehend the love of Christ.
My biggest concern for the children right now is that sooner if not later they'll end up seeing the video and images of their dad being shot, and that's gonna be harder to comprehend. Remember how upset Barron Trump got when that cunt "comedian" held up that fake severed bloodied head effigy of his dad? And he was what, eleven at the time? These children are already gonna be having it rough, and I hope that Erika has a plan to help them understand and heal from such psychological trauma that's gonna be coming their way.
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