My parents were married for 66 years. A few days after my mom died, we were scheduled for her funeral mass and burial. Before the funeral mass, we were supposed to meet other family members at the funeral home, but when my dad woke up, he was not sure where my mom was. We showed up 15 minutes late to the funeral home because I had to re-explain to my dad that my mom was gone. My dad had spent so many years waking up to my mom next to him that her passing was something that he never go used to. [My dad died about 3 months after my mom. It turned out that waking up next to my mom was a matter of life and death.