It doesn't make it any easier, but maybe less surprising.
I lost a friend and mentor on 3/23/18. Tim Searcy was someone with whom I had argued, analyzes, laughed and schemed. Someone who had lifted me up and also frustrated me to the breaking point at times. He battled cancer for about a year, demonstrating grace in amazing ways along the way. His funeral was packed with people who had known and worked and worshiped with him who came together in a mix of sadness and celebration for a life well-lived. I doubt my own funeral will be as well attended, but Tim was always much better at networking than I. I hope, however large or small the group, that those who attend my funeral will tell stories and smile the way those who remembered Tim did.
If we're not the one leaving this earth, we are going to have to say a lot of goodbyes.
It's doesn't make it any easier, but maybe less surprising.