When death occurs, our world changes forever.  Everyone grieves differently and there are no right or wrong ways to cope with human loss.  However, research has shown that there are five stages of grief:

• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression
• Acceptance

Not everyone goes through all stages or in this order.  Coping with human loss is as personal as the relationship was with that person. If you’re interested, you can learn more about the stages of grief here.

Our Experience with Loss

When my mom died, I don’t want to say I was prepared, but it was not a complete surprise. Our family had witnessed the decline in her health during the last two years of her life. However, we were surprised that the emotions were still raw, and we were not prepared for her death. We had clung to the hope that some type of miracle will take place. Unfortunately, you ultimately are faced with the reality that loss is part of life.

My dad’s death, however, caught our family completely off guard. He had not been feeling good for a couple of weeks, and then things began deteriorating rapidly.  He was diagnosed on a Friday with Aggressive Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and died the following Thursday.  Luckily, I spent a lot of time with him that week and went through many of the stages of grief.  Bargaining in prayer, denying that it was that serious and finally accepting that he was at the end of his race.

In both instances, I’m thankful that our parents taught our family how to live and how to die and that human loss is one of the steps of life.

Coping with Loss

It is our hope that if you are faced with human loss that you find some solace and comfort. We have been through the heartache, and have spent countless hours reading and researching how to deal with human loss. We don’t pretend to know all of the answers, but we understand the heartache. Here’s a great resource for supporting someone as they grieve.

Human Loss Resources

While dealing with the loss of a loved one is never easy, we’ve prepared some resources to help make the loss of a loved one a bit easier to bear:

• Grieving the Loss of a Loved One
• Burial vs. Cremation: Deciding What’s Right for You
• Remembering a Loved One
• How Much Does Cremation Cost?
• Talking to Children About Death
• Loss of a Loved One Quotes

If you’d like to see a resource on a topic you don’t see listed, please let us know.