Dealing With Grief
Grahams Funerals Services
As funeral directors we understand that the experience of grief can be a journey, regardless of age, sex, creed and culture. How we grieve also varies significantly from person to person, with feelings of disbelief, shock, anger, numbness, loneliness or despair.
The feelings experienced when you are bereaved are healthy, normal and a part of the healing process. Trying to suppress them can lead to more intense reactions, physically, emotionally or physiologically.
People do react differently to the loss of a loved one and there are no set procedures or steps that can be or need to be taken to help someone through this difficult time.
We also accept that we are not health professionals but would like to offer some help for the way to care for those grieving.
- Realise the bereaved has suffered a loss
- Acknowledge that each griever’s style of grieving will be unique
- Listen and hear what is being said, even if it is repeated over and over again
- Allow children to share in the grief process with the adults, including viewing the deceased and attending the funeral service
- Encourage the griever to express emotion and to work through their grief
- Advise against making major decisions in the first few months as this is a time for healing and reorganisation, not enormous change
- Recognise the intensity of grief that will be experienced at certain significant times, e.g. anniversaries and special dates
- Give them space. The griever will acknowledge reality when they are able to
- Do not be turned off by repetitive knockbacks to your efforts to assist
- Encourage the griever to live and love again when they are ready to do this.
Think of your journey as one that started in the darkest of night. In the dim light, you began your travels, afraid and uncertain, aware of only the emptiness surrounding you. But day follows night, and what seemed so unbearable at first has become a load that, while not easy, is much lighter to carry.
As your journey continues, you will find the pain lessening. Don’t be afraid of it – you are not betraying your loved one. You have simply traded regret for hope, despair for peace.
Our Mission Statement: -
"To facilitate a memorable and meaningful farewell that exceeds the family's expectations".
This guiding principle reflects our genuine desire to care for and help our community when a death affects the lives of family and friends within that community.