My son came home yesterday afternoon shocked and saddened, as I’m sure many of us were by the news yesterday. He asked me why he felt so bad over the loss of someone he didn’t know, someone famous certainly, but a stranger. Here are some thoughts I shared with him.

It’s okay to mourn. They touched our lives, whether because of their artistic talent, their humanitarianism, their leadership qualities, or yes their athletic prowess. They represented an ideal - one that says commitment to excellence matters. They gave us something to strive for, something to admire, or something to simply enjoy. We welcomed them into our hearts and homes. We cheered for them, sang their songs, watched their movies, or admired their passion. And now they are gone, and it hurts.

Does it hurt more than a close personal loss? Of course not. Are these celebrity lives worth more than any other? Of course not. Can we still feel shocked and sad? Of course we can.

When we feel empathy for another family’s tragedy, we do so not only because we can imagine being in their shoes, but because we truly feel sorrow for them. Our ability to hold another’s grief, to walk beside someone in pain, even if it’s from afar or only in our hearts, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful things about being human.

Compassion, empathy, love. They’re what will save us in the end.

“Empathy is a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals.” - Neil Gaiman