Pearls of Wisdom?

my brother-in-law died of a heart attack last week. He was 44 years old. G is leaving for Missouri next week to be with his parents. Today I went to a funeral for a friends 16 year old son.I'm reading a book called "Petey". It's the story of a man with Cerebral Palsy that was raised in a horrible insane asylum.Imagine you're an oyster. A speck of sand gets inside, irritating you. You cover it with layers of calcium, and thus create a pearl. Do lives harshest experiences make us more valuable, more beautiful, more precious? I feel really depressed anyway.