Few years ago around this time of year, both mother-daughter duo, Debby Reynalds and Carrie Fisher had passed away within days apart.

No parents should have to buried their children; thus they both died within days apart from each other.

Before I get into the blunt of this blog, I will give you a background of Debby Reynalds and Carrie Fisher.

Debby Reynalds was married to Carrie’s father, Eddie Fisher until Elizabeth Taylor stole him away. Debby Reynalds was Hollywood sweetheart during that time and Liz Taylor, she’s another story.

Most recently, the breakup of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston by Angelena Jolie was compared to the breakup of Debby Reynalds and Eddie Fisher by Liz Taylor. I don’t need to go any further than that, I think you got the message.

Carrie Fisher has a half-sister, Joely Fisher; when their father, Eddie married Connie Stevens.

Now Carrie Fisher’s relationship with her mother, Debby Reynalds was a typical mother/daughter relationship, with plenty of ups and downs. Carrie even wrote a book that was turned into a movie called, “Postcard from the Edge”, starring Merle Streep.

Also Carrie Fisher starred in the original Star Wars movies as well.

This isn’t about Carrie Fisher’s mental illness and drug abuse. This was just a background. Now I will get to the point of this blog, of can you die from a broken heart?

It was weird to hear a mother/daughter dying within days apart; but not out of the ordinary. Couples that have been married a long time has been known to die shortly after their mate had passed away.

The picture at the top was my folks when they were either newly married or about to get married. They were married for 40 years. A person may wonder why so long, what forever for?

After my mother had passed away, my step-dad had became depressed and seems to had gave up. Few years later, he passed away himself.

Some say that when my grandfather was killed by a train while walking across the tracks in Casselton carrying something, blocking his good ear; so that he couldn’t hear the train a coming was possibly a suicide. Upon his death, he was divorce from my grandmother. He wanted her back and she wouldn’t take him back.

Was his death suicide or just a bad train accident? Did he had a broken heart?

Did my step-dad had a broken heart as well?

You probably heard stories of a living spouse on their deathbed seeing a vision of their dead spouse coming back for them.

When a couple who had been married a long time and one of them passed away. A person must do all you can to make them feel comfortable and know that everything will be alright.

This time of year is the toughest for someone who had lost their soul mate. They are having a blue Christmas. To them, it doesn’t feel like Christmas anymore.

You never want to pack up one of your parent’s belongings while the other is still alive. They are still grieving and needs that time to do so. They need that memory around to help them grieve.

You may think how they could they be heartbroken if their marriage wasn’t a bed of roses. Some love is just hard to explain; like my folks or Debby Reynalds/Carrie Fisher for example.

After my mother passed away, I took on the responsibility in making her famous baked beans for my step-dad. She never had a recipe written down; so it was hard to do it justice for him. I think he enjoyed getting those baked beans for a Christmas meal like my mother made for him. Even if I had to tweak it a bit.

So tell me if you can, can you die from a broken heart? Even if the marriage may not been a bed of roses? How do they get so lonely to the point of giving up?