I have been with my boyfriend since early November last year, at which point his step-father had just been told he had 6 months to live (prostate cancer for the second time, this time terminal). This morning my boyfriend has called me from work to let me know a friend of his has died this morning and after hearing him so upset on the phone I think it has only just hit me that this is really happening and his step-father is going to die, and I have to support him through this. I don't know his step-father that well (whenever we have met it has only been briefly) and on these occasions he has appeared perfectly healthy, which is why I think it has only just hit me that he is seriously ill and the inevitable will happen. I have never experienced having to support someone through something like this before and this morning I have realised I'm really not sure how I'm going to support my boyfriend and his family (who I barely know). Is there going to be anything I can do to help them through what is going to be a horrible period? I can't begin to imagine how they are all feeling now, waiting like it's a ticking time bomb, never mind how they will feel after his death. I don't know what I'm asking here really, I just need some reassurance that we will get through it, and I have only come across this site by chance so thank you for bearing with me.