Gone too soon

What is it that gets one through hard times? Is it denial, or ignorance; or is it just compartmentalizing the pain and letting it out in time over years with periods of happiness in between?
I never feel more uncomfortable than when I am told that someone suffered a loss of a child. I never know if my brain would really know how to handle that if it were me. I feel vulnerable, yet sickeningly lucky, at the same time. It makes me feel weak, and selfish, and young.
I have never lost someone extremely close to me. I did lose my 2 great-grandmothers, whom I grew less acquainted with, in my 20's. (Now, I don't feel that young when write "my 20's.")
My children are extensions of me. In my mind they require me to control every aspect of their days and nights, so I see them as a physical part of me that sleeps in another room. They are me and I am them and I feel what they feel....for now anyway.
But, if I were to lose them, I would not have a part of myself anymore. My world would be broken and incomplete and dark. I would sit at the grave (chills) and read them bedtime stories. I would make their plate for dinner. I would sleep with the things that they slept with, until I felt right about the gaping hole in my reality. Parents and loved ones would not be a huge comfort to me for some time, and I would probably tick off everyone who reached out to hold me. I am not too cuddly under emotional stress.
I am truly sorry for the loss of Charlotte Rendine. I never met her, but I saw her mother pregnant with her while we were on a trip out west to meet some of Tommy's close college friends. She was cherished from conception. She died the other day from the brain cancer she battled for years. She had so many tumors the doctors could not put her on chemotherapy without compromising her 6-year-old quality of life. Now, she's gone.
Like pages in a book, days will go by, and then her parents will bury their first born child. They kept the strength for their young family with help from all sides. Now they're left reeling in the wake of their loss.
Her name and body will mark a place on Earth as her life and spirit made a place in her family's heart. God bless her family and may He hold them in His arms while they grieve over His angel.
She is simply gone too soon.