children are resilient. they'll push through, but they may never really get over it, the older one in particular. It's so traumatic to loose a parent at such a young age. I have two second cousins who lost their mother at a very young age, and they both seem alright today, but when it happened, it seemed like a lot of the adults in their lives didn't know how to treat them. whether they should be lenient, or remain strict. hard times.