Preparing for the Death of a Loved One

Death is the end of much more thenjust a life. It is the culmination and end of relationships such as parent and child, husband and wife, brother and sister. It can be the end of a life long friendship. Death of a loved one brings a litiney of losses we must cope with. How can we survive such grievious loss? Well, we do survive and we must survive because that is the way life is. There are definate stages of grief and we will experience all or at least some of these when werealize that we are going to lose a loved one to death.

1. Denial - None of us want to believe that some one we love is dying.

2. Anger - We become angry that we can't prevent the loss.

3. Bargaining - this is where we try to makedeals with God to save the one we love.

4.Sadness and despair- This can be the hardest stage, with the most painful symptoms. In this stage, westart to work through painful memories and hopefully begin coping with the life changes resulting from the loss.

5. Acceptance - This is where we give in to the inevitable and realize that there is nothing we can do but continue to live and cope. here is where we start functioning again and eventually the grief starts to become less intense. We realize that life goes on.

Believe it or not, we can prepare for impendingloss. Here are some ways to prepare for the loss of someone near and dear to you.

1. Handle the financial concerns before the fact. Pre-purchase the cemetery property and funeral arrangements so You won't have to makebusiness decisions while in the throws of grief.

2. Take care of yourself physically. eat right and exercise. get plenty of rest. Your emotional health can better with stand thepain when you are in good physical health.

3. Rely on friends and family to help you through this time of sorrow. One of thewaysof coping is to consider loss and bereavement as a normal part of life which can be talked about without fear or discomfort.If you need to find help there are support groups open for those who are having a hard time coping with their loss.

4. I have found prayer to be of great help to me when dealing with grief and loss. It may be of benefit to you also.

Remember, we all experience the loss of our friends and family sooner or later and we are not alone in our grief.

Time does help heal the rawness of the wounds that are suffered when we lose someone we care about and though the anguish can be extremely deep and painful, It will become less with time and we will survive.