Why does the loss of a friend hurt, when we know that death is inevitable?

Because you miss the person.

Because they were your friend. You each shared a special connection, and enjoyed spending time with each other. When they die, you don’t have them in person to share that connection with.

Because knowing that death will happen and having it actually happen are two separate emotions. Knowing the person is gone is much more difficult. You re-live memories and you actually feel loss. When the person is still living, you know some day that they will die, but they’re still alive and your mind knows the difference.

If you’ve lost someone, I’m sorry to hear the bad news. Death is a part of life, but it’s still shitty.

Why do some people fuss and hurt over getting needles if they know they have to – or that it’s inevitable for maintaining good health?

Just because you’ve come to a realization and accepted the reality, doesn’t make the experience any less painful necessarily. When my great aunt passed away, I knew that she was old as it is and in poor health, but I was suddenly saddened by the loss of such a good person.

It’s really just another teaching in the lesson of not taking people you love for granted.

Because you know you will never see or talk to them again.

Because you remember the good times you had with them, and know that there will be no more.

It hurts because you cared for them and now that feeling is unrequited but you don’t want to let it go.

Loss hurts us, inevitable or not. The loss of a friend is a good reason for grief.

Any loss in our life hurts, even if it is well known that is will happen. Knowing in advance will not lessen the loss.

We grieve for ourselves, for the ‘us’ of us suddenly, forever, our memory in the singular sense of what is shared. The flowers have dried out, the perfume long gone, the light removed from the thing that was so iridescent and glowing, the ember fades after the flame has died. And all that we once perceived as familiar as our own hand is now mere emptiness that is also destined to fade away with us, and only then will grief pass away.

Because they still die and you still miss them even though you knew it would happen.

Like @YARNLADY says, any loss hurts and though most of us accept death comes to everyone, we expect it to come for our friends and loved ones “later”.

Because you know you will never encounter another person with the exact personality as that person because we are all so very different. Even if you know someone who is similar you will always compare and feel the loss of those differences not shared.