Sallyanne Clarke

... her heartfelt weekly take on fashion, beauty, food and family

MY HEART goes out to the parents, f amily and friends of the six young Irish people who l ost their lives in California last week. The tragedy has left a large gaping hole in the lives of all the loved ones left behind.

The current outpouring of grief and support is very admirable but those left behind are going to need everyone’s love, support and understanding more than ever in the next six weeks, six months and six years.

When someone is not affected by a death directly, their lives continue, as before — such is the cycle of life. But life for the grieving parents, siblings, family and close friends of these six young people will never be the same again. I am speaking from experience when I say it does not get easier, because you never get over the loss of a child. It is not the natural order of events and, therefore, it’s incomprehensible.

However — with time, love, understanding and support — they will l earn to cope and eventually adjust to another sense of ‘normal’. Yet this i s not something that happens overnight. It is a very slow process and an experience that will be different for each person involved.

For me, the worst part comes in the middle of the night when you cannot sleep and you’re asking yourself the ‘what if ’ questions. But you cannot wrap your child in cotton wool — no matter how much you want to.

I hope that, in time, the loved ones of these six young people will be able to be thankful they had these wonderful human beings in their lives for 21 amazing years.

May Ashley Donohue, Olivia Burke, Eimear Walsh, Eoghan Culligan, Lorcán Miller and Niccolai Schuster all rest in peace.