Is there an afterlife? That is a matter of faith.

Another thought outside religion: Based on what we can observe, I've been comforted in loss by the realization we never are truly gone.

Our physical form, continues to change (always has). Death always becomes (or "feeds into") new life. But we are never really "gone".

We can even observe this, the way meat content changes composition, based on an animal's diet (grass finished vs corn fed, omega6 vs omega3 fatty acids).

The circle of life, a continuum of cycles, within cycles. All of us. Everything being connected in that way.

Our life continues to shape / influence others - another way we still exist, our influence shaping new generations, behavior, genes.

And they pass this on, and so on.

Nothing, and no one, is really ever gone in that way. We continually change form.

Might not be what anyone is looking to hear. But it's one way to look at existence.