I hope I am not too repetitive. However, coming to terms with death is part of the general human situation.
For in some ways the world was like a shopping centre, and he himself was a doubtful customer, often ineffectual, being talked into buying things he didn't want, things indeed which nobody in their right mind would want to buy.
It changes you for ever, but you are changing for ever anyway.
I, personally, have found reading a continual support to writing.
Family!... You might just as well celebrate battle, murder and sudden death.
At the same time, I think books create a sort of network in the reader's mind, with one book reinforcing another. Some books form relationships. Other books stand in opposition. No two writers or readers have the same pattern of interaction.