Names, Stories, and Ongoing Presence

In many Western contexts, there is discomfort with speaking the name of someone who has died, as if mentioning them increases pain. Mirabai's devotional practice was the opposite: she spoke Krishna's name constantly, sang it, wrote it, lived it. For grieving children, regularly speaking the name of the person who died—in conversation, ritual, storytelling, and memory—affirms their continued significance. Stories become a primary way that the deceased remains present and alive in the child's consciousness and family narrative. A child who lost a grandmother might regularly tell the story of how she taught them to braid hair, or the time she told them a secret, or how she laughed at her own jokes. These stories prevent the person from becoming abstract or frozen; they remain vivid, specific, and dynamic. As the child grows, their understanding of the stories deepens—a childhood memory takes on new meaning in adolescence or adulthood. Speaking names and sharing stories also affirms to other people in the child's life that this person mattered, that their impact continues. For children navigating grief, this practice creates continuity: the person who died is woven into the ongoing story of the child's life, not erased from it. Mirabai's devotion shows that love expressed through words, songs, and remembrance keeps the beloved alive in the heart and community.