My cousin Linda, 73, died June 28 following complications from a heart-valve procedure.
I was not particularly close to Linda, and I did not attend the obsequies, but her death delivered a shock nevertheless.
I only saw Linda at funerals and family reunions, but my memories of her go all the way back to a birthday party when I was not much more than a toddler at a house that seemed to be deep in a f…