Nobody enjoys thinking about death. Whether it’s going to a probate lawyer, planning your will, saying goodbye to elderly loved ones, or even just thinking about retirement – but if you want to be ready for when it eventually happens to you or someone you love, it’s a necessary thing to do. And it’s not easy when a loved one passes. You have to get the legal parts out of the way, like obtaining a death certificate and confirming the will, but then you have to take time to process what has happened – which is a very sad time for you. In fact, it can be a very upsetting time not just for you, but for your entire family as well. There are, however, some tactics that you can use to make such a time more bearable. A topic that you can read more about in my post below.
Create a scrapbook.
It may not be the thing that you think to do first when a loved one passes, but actually, it’s likely that you will find part of the process will be to go through their old items. Of course, this can be challenging in many ways not least that it can be hard work to go through a lifetime worth of possessions when the grief from their passing is still raw.
Of course, you will want to keep some of your loved one items, and in particular, creating a scrapbook like the ones shown a scrapbook.com with treasured photos of them can be a cathartic experience. In fact, it can be beneficial because not only will it help you to get a balance between throwing away and keeping items, bit also provide a positive memorial of their life. One that you can go back to time and time again when you want to remember the good times.
Hold a celebration of their life.
Talking of good times, another smart way to deal with the grief of losing a loved one is to hold a celebration of their life, where you get to get together with the people they loved and share stories about the fun things that happened in their lives.
In fact, this is precisely what many people do during a wake, the reception that is held after the funeral. OK, so it can seem a little strange to make this a happy affair, especially when everyone is still grieving, yet many people find it helpful as it reminds them of all the positives that happened, as well as the meaningful life that the person that has passed had.
In particular, wearing the person’s favorite color as suggest at dressforms.wordpress.com, instead of black can help to lighten the mood, as can including photos or videos of time where they are enjoying themselves or achieving something noteworthy. Some wakes even request you bring things that the person that passed enjoyed like food and drink instead of flowers as a unique way to remember and feel connected to them.
Getting the funeral right.
Unlike the wake, there tends to be a more formal schedule to a funeral or cremation, and the tone tends to be more somber as well. The reason being that it is the time in which family and friends can say their goodbyes.
In fact, many families choose only to have the adults and older children attend the cremation or burial because of the potential to upset younger children. Of course, many adults also feel more self-conscious letting out their grief if more youthful members of the family are there, so if it would benefit the majority, this is something you may consider doing.
The funeral is also a chance to let your lost loved one’s personality shine. This is a summary of their life, so you want every last detail to be all about them. Choose their favourite flowers, their favourite music, their favourite photos and their favourite colour and incorporate them all into the service. You can even get different casket colors to match their personality, so if black wasn’t really their style, you can give them something they would have preferred.
Mark their final resting spot.
Another critical aspect of dealing with grief that the entire family can benefit from is marking your deceased loved one final resting spot. This being something that gives a location that all family member can visit to not only pay their respects but feel connected to the person that has passed on as well.
Of course, choosing the memorial that marks such a spot is an important thing to get right. Although, you will find that specialists like sbmonumental.com will be able to offer not only a range of options but also advise on which would suit your need the best. Something that can help you to commission a memorial that not only honors the person that is no longer with you, but help to remind the whole family of them as well.
Take time for yourself.
Spending time with family can help you to get through this difficult time, but sometimes family can be exhausting. It’s important to remember that you aren’t responsible for helping everyone and that you’re allowed to take some time to rest and recover in peace. If you have kids, you obviously need to keep supporting them, but make it clear to them that it’s a difficult time for everyone, not just them. Moments you can easily take for yourself include having a warm bubble bath, watching your favourite show or film, treating yourself to dessert or even snacking on a couple of CBD gummies from www.Goldbee.com or some similar site. Simple things like this give your brain the chance to process your feelings, meaning you’ll actually be better at supporting your family afterwards.
Use their old clothes to make cushions.
Something that can also work well for families experiencing grief, especially those with young children is to recycle old clothing items belonging to the person that has passed into pillows and cushions. In fact, this is a straightforward project and one that you can learn how to do in the video below.
Of course, the key benefit of doing this is not only that you get to have a constant reminder of that person that passed in your home at all times. Additionally, the tactile nature of the pillow and the likelihood that it will still smell like the person to whom it belonged to can offer some very real and often much-needed comfort as well.
Get some grief counseling.
Sometimes, no matter how much you band together as a family some additional help coping with the grief of losing a loved one is necessary. In fact, for many people both old and young, getting counseling for grief and sorrow can not only help them make sense of their feelings but also work through them instead of bottling them up instead.
Of course, it’s essential to work through feelings of grief constructively, even though they can be very difficult to process. The reason being that without doing so such challenging emotions can find a release in more damaging ways such as anger, depression, addiction, and even relationship issues. To that end, getting counseling if you are dealing with grief can be the smartest move possible.
Coming together as a family.
Lastly, when it comes to grief, there is no set time scale to work to. In fact, while many people think that once the funeral and wake are over, the grieving period is too, that isn’t always the case. Especially for those that were closest to the person that has passed.
To that end, it can be beneficial as paloaltoonline.com suggests to regularly scheduled in family and friend get-togethers for as long as you feel necessary. After all, these can not only help you remember the person that is no longer with you but also offer mutual support to those that were affected by their passing as well. Something that can be both beneficial and necessary when you are a family coping with grief.