humour,

Another coping mechanism I’ve learned to rely on is to take things in small bites. When you look at losing your parents, you see the entire “process” at once, from illness, to awareness that the end is near, to death, final arrangements, grieving, coping, trying to move on. It is daunting and scary, but try to remember it won’t happen all at once. You will move through the process one stage at a time and you have to trust that on the other end of that tunnel is peace and normalcy once more (a new normal, true).

Sometimes when faced with a long journey, if you look too far off into the distance you convince yourself you can’t make it. Instead, look down at your feet and move along one step at a time, dealing with only what is happening in that moment, on that day. It may be that in the end (your parents’ end) they may be ready to move on, and you may have had enough time to say your goodbyes that you are ready to let them go, or to let their suffering end. We always think “I can’t do this” but if you must, you will find a way – your own way. My hope for you is that you won’t need to for many years yet. 🙂

*Anita – Thank you. One day soon I will begin a thread of my own and we can chat more. I look forward to that day. Happy Friday! 🙂