In a deep sense, he did not choose his wife. His children are a gift. They are all gifts from God. God intends for all of us that he made to be in relationship with him and each other forever. We are always alive in the mind of God.
Death is real.
Sometimes we behave as if death were not going to touch us or touch those whom we love. But we know better. There is a kind of irony in hearing that to God we are alive but at the same time knowing that we will die. We Christians have dealt with death and sin in the same ways. We sense that we are made by God for love and relationship and yet shattered relationships and brokenness are ever part of our lives.