Death marks a transition, where everything that comprises a being returns to the universe at large. Energy and matter cannot be created or destroyed, so while a being may no longer be living, all that they were still exists, just in a different form. Their body becomes apart of the earth and their soul returns to wherever it came from in the first place.
One of the biggest questions of human life is what happens after death. People wonder what they will see and hear and feel when they no longer occupy a body. These questions seem to misinterpret the afterlife as an experience. Stepping through the threshold of death is the last experience any of us will ever have. After, there is no seeing or hearing or feeling, because there is no body to sense with. It can be scary to think of not having senses, but we must remember that after death, there is also no “having” or “not having” because there is no self. The tangle of thread that is you—your beliefs, ego, identity, memories, and dreams—unwinds into a single thread which is woven back in to the tapestry of life. When I say life, I mean the puddle from which every living thing springs, the waves that surround and move through us, the seen and the unseen.
With this view of death, it becomes clear that no one is ever truly lost. There is great sadness in missing the experience that they were. But to say hello, I miss you, one must simply reach out and pluck the thread of them that is still very much alive. If you do not believe me, I suggest asking God to give you a sign that whoever you are missing is beside you. Within the day, you will notice several, as long as you remember to look.