Dealing with Death in the Ozarks

This week, we were given the news that the daughter of one of our friends in the Ozarks had died.  She passed away from a tragic outdoor accident involving a lightening strike, water, and a canoe.  The whole town is hurting with her. So, the question is: how do we deal with death in the Ozarks.

One of the answers that I have heard involved rational thinking about how to have avoided the issue. We should not be on water, in a canoe, during a storm.  But that answer left me a bit shallow, though I do remember learning this safety rule as a Boy Scout.  "Get off the water."  It still leaves me feeling a bit shallow, though, because we don't know what this group did to avoid the problem.  We don't even know how far away a storm might have been.  We just know the canoe was struck by lightening. Rationalizing on what could have been done does nothing to help us deal with the death.

Another answer involved trying to figure out what to do in the post tragedy.  The young woman's daughter must be cared for now. The family must make plans: funeral, dinners, etc.  It is part of what we do to deal with death in the Ozarks.

The thing that makes me most happy, though, is knowing the whole community will grieve with the family. In small ways, we will all try to do something to let the family know we hurt with them. There  will be shoulders to cry on. There will be hugs to be had.

It takes a community to do grief counseling...

Ray Province, The Celtic Ozarkian