I have personally lost a brother two years ago and my father this January... If there's anything that I've learned, it's to go ahead and let it all out. Cry if you want to. Being a real man is not about being emotionless - not even close. When my brother died, I tried to find a way to blame him ('cause I didn't want to face my own mortality) for dying young. I was in the room with my dad (he was at home with hospice) and I'll never take breathing (the sound) for granted again. Sometimes even now when I am putting my year and a half old son to sleep when I listen for his breathing (to let me know he's falling asleep), I go right back into the death vigil my family was keeping over my dad - listening to his breathing to see if he was still alive. It gets too intense for me sometimes, but I'm working my way through it. Time helps, but there is always a sincere sadness and void that follows the death of a loved one.
I still miss the cat I had when I was a kid and I still remember vividly the day he died. Time has sort of healed that. I now have two cats and I treat them like gold 'cause I know they most probably will die before I do. It's the life process. I like to listen to the Cat Stevens song "Oh, very young" as therapy... "we're only dancing on this earth for a short while..."