A family that has lost someone is in a difficult position. They are grieving, and their lives have been changed forever. It can be hard to know what to say or do when you visit them, but if you want to help ease the burden for your loved ones, it's important to make an effort.
The following blog post will provide some helpful tips on supporting a family who has lost someone they love dearly.
1) Make Sure You Have the Right Intentions
You might have good intentions when it comes to visiting a family who has lost someone, but they probably won't know that. They are grieving and feeling vulnerable, so you need to ensure your visit is coming from a positive place. Be sure not to judge them or their choices regarding the loss of their loved one. Ensure that you've made an effort to learn about coping strategies for grief before approaching this topic with them as well. What works for you may not work for everyone else in similar situations, so be sensitive and try to understand where they're at first without offering advice or solutions unless asked specifically by your friend or relative what help can come from yourself this time period.
2) Bring Food
When you visit someone, food is always a good choice. Especially in the case of a family who has just lost someone close to them, they might not be thinking about meal planning or grocery shopping. So reach out and offer to bring some dinner over with you when you come by so that your loved one doesn't need to worry about finding time for this task amidst their grief. You can also make sure there are snacks around if hunger strikes during the day while everyone is grieving as well. Just don't forget condiments like salt, pepper, and sugar!
3) Offer to Help with Errands
Losing a loved one can be extremely overwhelming and often leads to people taking on extra tasks in order to manage. Offer to help run some errands for your grieving family member, such as getting the mail, doing the grocery shopping, or filling up their car with gasoline. You can also help with research such as looking for Cremation Urns from Memorials.com. This will provide them with some relief so that they can focus on other things like spending time with friends and family who have come to support them or attending any funerals or memorial services that may have been scheduled.
4) Offer to Drive
If you live in the area, offer your friend or relative a ride if they need it. This may be for errands that you can help with as mentioned above or perhaps bringing them somewhere like the grocery store, which might not seem worth taking public transportation for; however, any time someone is grieving and losing their loved one, every little bit of effort helps. Even offering to drive across town so that they don't have to worry about parking could mean everything at this difficult time period. But, of course, only offer this if you are confident you won't mind helping out!
5) Be There for Them
This one is probably the most important thing you can do when visiting a grieving family. Just be there. Listen to them, let them cry on your shoulder if they need to and provide any type of support that you can. Sometimes it's hard to know what to say in these situations, but just being present for your loved ones will mean everything. They may not be ready to talk about their loss yet, or even want to discuss anything related to the deceased, so don't push them if they seem resistant. Wait until they're ready and then offer whatever comfort you can.
6) Don't Bring Up the Death All the Time
It's natural to want to talk about the person who has passed away constantly, especially in the early stages of grief. However, it can be really overwhelming and frustrating for a grieving family member to have this topic of conversation brought up all the time. Try to limit how often you discuss the death and instead focus on other things that your loved one might enjoy talking about. This could be anything from their favorite movie or book to what they did over the weekend. Grief is something that takes up a lot of space in someone's mind, so giving them a break from thinking and talking about it will probably be appreciated more than you know.
These are just some helpful suggestions on how best to support friends and family members who have lost someone close during these trying times when grief can feel all-consuming.
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