Death from the view of a child

A new challenge that I haven't had to face as a parent is explaining death. My boys say things like "he died," or "he's dead" but I know they do not understand what that means. With the passing of my grandpa, death needs to be explained.

When I told Anthony this is how it went...

Me: "Anthony, you know grandpa Norman?"

A: "Yes."

M: "He went to heaven to be with heavenly Father."

A: "Oh really?'

M: "Yes"

A: "When is he going to come back?"

M: "Hes not coming back, that is what it means to die, you go to heaven and don't come back."

A: "Oh ok, well grandpa Norman will just be back soon."

Sam wouldn't listen to me when I tried to talk to him about it. Tonight at the viewing he saw grandpa in the casket. He talked to my dad about it, and I really think Sam nailed it!

Sam: "Grainpa, is Grainpa Norman hurt?"

Dad: "No, he died."

S: "Oh he didn't win?"

Dad: "No he didn't."

S: "Oh...he needed to go faster."

Dad: "Yes he did."

S: "So he lost..."

Yes Sam, he lost us here on Earth, but he won on the other side and I'm thankful that he didn't go any faster!