Image Source: blog.emergingscholars.org
They say when you conquer death, you can conquer all fears. But for the families of a dying elderly, conquering the thought that their loved one isn’t going to be with them for long requires endurance and courage. These people have to endure seeing their loved one grapple with pain that worsens over time, a scenario which puts the entire family in constant state of emergency. In addition, there’s stress from managing finances, funeral plans, and end-of-life care needs.
As they can only do so much to manage the gloomy experience, a better option is to anticipate loss before it actually happens. Though it cannot make coping with loss easier, anticipatory grief breaks down the whole lot of burden into chunks, enabling family members to see through the situation and manage fears bit by bit.
Image Source: telegraph.co.uk
When there’s still time to prepare, families can begin accepting the loss by envisioning life without the dying person – they can now assign someone else to do the things the dying elderly used to do, like cooking for the whole family.
Anticipating grief is also an opportunity to get closer with a dying loved one. Family members can make amends or resolve issues. If the dying person is religious, families can join him in praying, or they can talk about his last wishes whenever he is willing to open up.
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Though anticipatory grief is one of the hardest kinds of grief to deal with, family members should make the most out of the situation, and focus on the positive. After all, life doesn’t stop – life goes on.
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