Steve Irwin's memorial service was today. It was very sad and I must admit that I was teary eyed when I watched bits on it on the news this morning. He was such a great guy, and such a fantastic teacher to the children. We watched Collision Course on TV on the weekend and Sam laughed out loud at Steve's antics. Steve was playing with a highly venomous spider - and the kids had fun watching him while learning about dangerous wildlife.

Sam's class had a talk about Steve Irwin. I think that the teacher was probably a little concerned about the effect of Steve's death on the children.  He was such a popular personality with the little ones.

Death is a topic that had come up only once in my family. My father passed away when the kids were much younger. The youngest only know that grandfather is in Heaven - but does not quite understand what it all means. Steve Irwin's death may even be more confusing in that they know that Steve is gone, but he's not really. He appears on our TV screens and inside magazines.  So death is not perceived as a permanent departure.

I dread the inevitable. Explaining death to the kids...