Going to see the body, did you regret it? What's it like?

[Shutupanddrive]

My DPs brother has been found dead, suspected suicide. He wants to go and see him to say goodbye, but is not sure it it's the right thing to do. Personally I wouldn't, I would not like to have that last image in my mind. Any advice appreciated thankyou :(

It is such an individual decision. I saw my dad at the undertakers after he'd died suddenly and for me it was the right thing to do as I don't think I'd have believed it if I hadn't seen him.

What struck me most was that it was him but it wasn't. I realised then that his body was a shell and what made him him had gone when he died.

Sunnywithshowers

I was lucky. She looked simultaneously like herself and not like herself - as if someone had put her together not having ever met her.

Such a perfect description. This sums up how I have been feeling about the way my beloved grandmother looked when I sat with her body.

For me, this was important and although slightly distressing, I am very glad I did it. It gave closure and allowed me to speak out loud to her body to say goodbye and tell her I loved her. I can't fully explain it but I felt her body needed me there and it was somethign I had to do.

On the other hand some other family members thought the idea was disgusting and morbid and the fact that I had been to visit her actually caused a few arguments.

Bereavement is such a personal process, I think everyone needs to do what they feel is neccessary to get through the hardest times and sometimes it may be hard to understand or the temptation to criticise might be there but I think we need to learn to respect these different opinions and actions at these times.

I went with my Mum and brother to see Dad after he died of cancer. It was very strange but we'd had a long time to prepare for his death and he'd been unconscious for his last week and didn't look very different. That's a very different situation as well. I think I'd want to check with the undertaker about the appearance of the body but expect your Dh to still want to see the body whatever they say. It must be so hard for him.

I was with my Grandfather when he died, and I saw him in the Chapel of Rest. I really wish I hadnt. It was very distressing.
However,
I wasnt with my Grandmother when she died, and I didnt see her in the Chapel of Rest, and I really wish that I had.
I think because I was with GF, I saw he had passed, and after leaving the hospital room for him to be laid out, then re entering, I could see he had gone.
There was no closure with GM. She had been ill for a very long time, far outlived her prognosis, and for years I couldn't quite believe she had gone.
IMO it would have helped me with closure to see her in the chapel.

As others have said though, after a week, seeing DB might well be upsetting but I think you are doing the right thing by going with the flow and letting DP decide. Whatever happens there will be regret and upset, but if you push him in either direction he may feel you helped him make the wrong decision.

I missed being with my grandma when she died by minutes. I'll never forgive myself those minutes. I went to see her in the chapel of rest and it was awful and I regretted it.

I went in alone and it was eerie and the room was horrible and too small, and smelt. Sorry. I found the "smell" followed me for days and scared me.

Most upsetting was speaking to her without hee being able to speak, it sounds ridiculously but that really upset me. It's three years ago and still upsets me.

It was the wrong thing for me but I felt I had to.

I lost my grandad six months later and was there at his death. I went to see him in a small group. It was ok. It sounds odd but I was comfortable with it. I'd fully accepted it and was prepared for the worst. It was a nicer room, no smells, and just better.

Personally I'd go, but in a group and it sounds silly but prepare yourself as it's quite a shock

i would trust his instincts.

I really did not want to see my mum when she was dead, but got talked into it but a persuasive Swiss undertaker who kept telling me what 'a lovely job' he had done of her! I regretted it instantly and should have stuck to my guns and politely said no. 4 years on the clearest image I have of my mum is in her coffin.

However, my sister also went in to see her and it really helped her accept my mums death - which was v sudden and in another country.

I was very close to my gran and didn't go and see her body. I just couldn't. I wrote a letter and asked my aunty to put it in with her.

I didn't have any problem accepting she was gone, and her death was very sudden. I don't think I would ever want to see a loved one's body.

So sorry for your loss.

My DF died in the same way. I saw him in the funeral home and I'm glad I did othwerwise I would have always wondered if he would walk through the door again, or be out there living a double-life (bit far-fetched, I know).

I would suggest your DP checks what the undertakers think due to the amount of time he was undiscovered.

Such a sad thread. My sympathies to you all.

I'm sorry for your loss.

I don't see the problem with seeing the body. I'm from NI and our funerals seem to be different from the rest of the UK.

From the minute the person dies the undertaker takes them to be dressed, put in coffin, then a day later brought home. They open the lid and place the coffin in front of the living room window (all blinds closed, windows open).

And over 2 days relatives, friends will come say their goodbyes. The funeral will then leave from their. It has always happened this way, so I don't personally like the way the coffin is kept in an undertakers, as for example when my grandmother died we wanted her in her home where she would have wanted to be as is custom.

When I die I would hate the thought of being left alone in an undertakers.

But I understand why British people do this their way. But I feel it helps with the grieving process, and also I feel they look like they are sleeping and it is peaceful for me. We take turns staying up all night with the coffin, toasting the life of the person we lost.

Make sure he knows what he is going to be faced with after a week. :-(

Sorry for your loss.

I went with my Mum to see my stepfather and she really really wishes the dick of a "bereavement counsellor" hadn't virtually forced her into it.

I've since visited a lot of Catholic houses (am in Italy) where it is totally normal, as Molly199 says, and somehow comforting.

Just support him in his decision I suppose. x

Thank you, I have read all the replies and found them very helpful. He is going with his other brothers, better than alone I think. Thankyou for the kind wishes, they have helped more than you know. We have had a heart to heart and he is sure he wants to do this

Shutupanddrive

Hope all goes well for your DP and he finds some comfort and acceptance from his visit. You sound like a really loving and supportive partner for him. Take care all of you.

Shutup - it sounds like it is the right thing for him - and that is the key. Its good he is going with his brothers. Its clear he has your support which is so important at this time - my thoughts are with you at this awful time x

I saw my dad immediately after his death, it was fine, didn't really look like him but it was fine

I went to see my cousin after he had passed 3 weeks, he was prepared for funeral, it was awfull, I regret it.

Please get advice from the funeral director.

OP, it has to be the DP's call. Mostly better done that not, though the circumstances affect this, as has been noted upthread.

Dear dad... my first dead person, so full of trepidation. Couldn't get the smell of the funeral home out of my memory for yonks. HATED the vile turquoise shroud they stapelled into the fecking coffin, instead of his scruffy jumper. He looked like himself, but not so later.

Clothes are important.

Dear brother: ditto horrible white stapled shroud.

Dear mum: lovely homely clothes put on by thoughtful care home.

I went to see my Grandfather in his coffin, and was very glad I had. He looked very peaceful, but really just a copy of him - he had obviously gone, and there was nothing left but the body. It really helped me to accept it and move on.

I was there when mum died last year, with my dad and my sister. She had gone into hospital for pain in her hip and it turned out she was riddled with cancer - as missed by an incompetent GP. She died a few days later. The hospital let us stay with her and sleep in the room, and we said lots of goodbyes, so although I saw her die I had no wish to go back to see her again in the funeral home. We chose a lovely nightie for her to wear and Dad took it in - he said she looked beautiful in it.

My cousin was killed in a push bike accident and we were all advised not to see him.

I would second others who have said to get advice from the funeral directors.

i think it's a good idea generally to see the body - but i'm irish and the first dead person i saw was my grandfather when i was six, he was laid out in the front room of his house and there was a proper wake. i remember it very clearly, but not as something traumatic - i hadn't known him well, though.

i lost my father ten years ago and i think it really does help to ground the loss, as it were - the same year i lost an old friend and she was in a closed coffin (had died abroad) and i found that much harder to cope with, i think partially because it was unbelievable without properly witnessing it.

if some time has passed, though, it might be a much more traumatic thing to do, i suppose. in ireland, funerals almost without fail take place three days after the death.

i mean seeing my father's body helped to ground the loss