Having someone close to you pass away is never an easy thing to navigate. This can be especially true when that person is a parent. After they pass you may feel confused, lost, and alone. As directors of cemeteries in Shoreline, WA., we understand how challenging this time can be. While nothing will completely take away the pain, there are some things you can do to help with the grieving, and healing, process.
Let Yourself Feel What You Feel
There are many stages of grief and everyone will go through them and process them in different ways. Let go of the judgment of how you think you should be feeling and allow yourself permission to experience what you are truly feeling. If you are experiencing feelings of sadness, confusion, denial, anger, fear…whatever it is allow yourself to feel it. By acknowledging your feelings, you are better able to process and work through them.
Don’t Base Your Grief on Others
Because everyone handles grief and death differently, don’t compare your mourning to someone else’s. You may see other people who have lost a parent get back to work immediately or seem like they are able to get back to other activities quickly; this doesn’t mean you have to. There is no set timeline for mourning. Allow yourself the time you need.
Keep Their Memory Alive
When you are grieving, you are doing so because you are missing your loved one. One way to feel close to them is by participating in something they loved. While this won’t take away all of your pain, it can bring a little comfort and feelings of closeness to your loved one into your day.
The activity you choose could be anything. Maybe your parent was always in the kitchen baking. If that’s the case, why not get in there and bake some cookies? Perhaps they loved to play tennis. You could grab a friend or family member and hit the tennis court.
Doing something your parent loved can bring a little joy and maybe even put a little smile on your face as you remember all the good times they had doing this activity.
Don’t Forget About You
This may be easier said than done at first, but you must pay attention to your own self-care in this difficult time. Your mental and physical well-being will be strained and you need to do what you can to balance it out.
You can do this by making sure you are getting enough sleep each night, eating foods that are nutritious, drinking enough water each day, as well as things like spending time in nature, meditating, having lunch with friends, or taking a long bubble bath. Cremation is now an option to be chosen “for sufficient reason.”
Final Thoughts
Having a parent pass away is never an easy thing to endure. Even as an adult this is an extremely challenging thing to go through. While these are helpful tips to aid in processing and dealing with your grief, you may need more help.
Directors of cemeteries in Shoreline, WA. want you to know that there is help available. From support groups to one-on-one counseling, we have resources we can point you to. If you need help, please call or come by anytime.
