It was a heart-warming gesture by the Holy Family Cemetery to take in the remains of 13 people that had gone unclaimed since 2006 in Iberia Parish and give them a proper burial.

The sad part, though, is that some people are either left to die alone or their families lack the finances to put their loved ones in final resting places.

Everyone loses loved ones over the course of their time on Earth. Sometimes those losses come several times in a year. My family, for example, has lost four people over the past 12 months. Add to that the unexpected death of a friend who suffered a massive heart attack at 50 and the toll rises. A fellow Kiwanian, God bless her, is grieving for two loved ones who passed from this world within a month.

At the All Soul’s Day Mass on Saturday, participating churches read lists of parishioners who have passed from this world. It brought to mind the loved ones in my life who died over the past year.

We first lost my wife’s aunt, whose spirit for life was full. Aunt Evelyn and my wife, Mary Kay, were close. Our children called her “Ebie” when they were babies, being unable to enunciate the V sound. That name stuck and is what we still use today. She was one of the people you encounter in life who leaves a lasting impact.

A week after turning 50, my sister Alaina succumbed to the cancer that ravaged her body but left her soul a shining example of what the human spirit is capable of, if they lean on God for strength.

Cancer also wreaked havoc on the body of my cousin Lynn, 52. His family and mine share much in common and those left behind share the grief and memories as we work through the loss of such young people.

Mary Kay also lost the last of her father’s siblings when Uncle Ed died over the summer. He was a kind man who doted on his grandchildren and silently left an example of dedication to God and family.

Reviewing the obituaries in The Daily Iberian leaves me to wonder about the families who are left to mourn, especially with the number of young deceased. With the average life expectancy of 76 for a man and 81 for a woman in the United States, it is all too common that we receive notices of people dying of natural causes while in their 40s or 50s. It is sad to think that children in the difficult teenage years will grow up without their mother or father.

At the least, most of the obituaries we publish include loved ones who were with the deceased at the time of departure. The same likely cannot be said of the poor 13 souls who were given reverent burials on Saturday.

JEFF ZERINGUE is managing editor of The Daily Iberian. He can be reached at iberianedit@glacoxmail.com.