Eric Burke

There is no adequate way to begin a letter like this. I have sat with the blank page for some time now, trying to find the right words, but the truth is that no words will feel sufficient. Loss this profound resists language. Still, I wanted to reach out, because silence feels equally inadequate.

I want to tell you how sorry I am. Truly, deeply sorry. The weight of losing someone so young, so full of life, is impossible to carry. And yet, here you are, carrying it. I cannot pretend to know the depth of your grief, but I can imagine it must feel overwhelming, like standing at the edge of something vast and unknowable.

What I do know is that grief doesn’t follow a straight line. It ebbs and flows. There will be days when you feel as though the weight has lifted, and days when it feels unbearable. Let yourself feel both. Allow yourself to sit with the sorrow when it comes and to embrace the lightness when it appears, even if only briefly.

I remember Eric as someone who radiated something rare—call it energy, call it presence, call it a spark. Even if you didn’t know him well, you felt him. He had a way of making the room seem brighter, as though his very being contained more life than the rest of us could claim. That’s what makes this loss so difficult, so cruel. He was a person you thought would always be here.

What I want to say, though, is this: he will be. In the moments you least expect, in the smallest of things—a song, a phrase, the way the sunlight filters through the trees on a certain day. He will be there. You’ll see him in places you didn’t think to look, and while it may ache at first, eventually it will feel like a gift. A quiet reminder that he hasn’t left entirely.

I hope you can give yourself grace in this time. Grief has a way of convincing us we aren’t handling it the way we should. But there is no right way, only your way. Be patient with yourself. Be kind. And lean on the people who love you, even if you don’t know how to.

Sorry for your loss.

Isaiah 57:15

For this is what the High and Lofty One says: “I reside in the high and holy place, But also with those crushed and lowly in spirit,
To revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of those being crushed.

The Bible is rich with soothing expressions that reassure us that Jehovah notices our tears and will help us.

Romans 8:38,39
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers+ 39 nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”

Dear Chantal, Anthony and Robert,

May Our Loving Heavenly Father Jehovah, be your Strength, Hope and Confidence at this most difficult of times.
We are so very sorry for your loss.
We hope it helps to know so many are keeping you all in our hearts and prayers❤️💕
With Deepest Sympathy

So sorry for your loss. Death leaves a big hole only time can mend. Please let Jehovah hold your hand till you can breath again. Warm love