How to prepare for loss?

At 33 years of age, I have never experienced grief of loss and have never been to a funeral.

My grandma is close to leaving us and I don’t know how to prepare for this, anytime I’m alone I just cry and feel so sad, I know this will be so much worse when she’s gone and I just don’t know how to process it. I avoid the conversations with my family because I immediately well up and I hate crying in front of people. Any advice is welcomed, thank you.

Hello @Emma_H,

I’m Seaneen, and I’m part of the Online Community team. I wanted to say thank you for bravely reaching out. I’m so sorry to hear about your grandma.

You’ve asked how to prepare for loss, so I wanted to share some of our resources with you that you may find helpful.

  • Our Supporting someone at the end-of-life pages contain practical advice for those helping someone close to death and information about what you can expect when death is near.
  • Our Anticipatory grief page talks about the feelings associated with grief in the days, months or years before someone dies. This is known as anticipatory grief, as you are grieving for someone who is still alive.

I hope you find the community a good source of support to you, too.

Take good care - you are not alone.
Seaneen