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Bereavement

Find bereavement help and support from other Mumsnetters. See also your choices after baby loss.

Support For Anyone Who Loses A Parent

991 replies

Mummylin · 01/02/2018 18:29

We offer a shoulder and compassion for those that need it.

OP posts:
TheWeeMacGregors · 11/04/2018 11:44

Oh gosh I’m dreading that. Know it is true though that it happens, people just move on.

Is it unreasonable to proactively bring it up so it’s clear you are not over it?

Whatsthatbrightlght · 11/04/2018 12:21

Another friend told me I had an excuse for not wanting to go to another friend’s birthday party Shock I quickly pointed out that it wasn’t an excuse but, having lost my mum not that long ago, I didn’t really feel like partying!

MyGuideJools · 11/04/2018 12:55

FlowersBrew to everyone
I had someone tell me 2 days(!!) after my dad died, that "i had spent enough time looking after him, he's gone and it's time to live your life" Sad
I told them i'd much rather still be looking after him thanks!
I've not spoken to the person since.

Whatsthatbrightlght · 11/04/2018 13:03

Jools - that’s awful Shock I can’t work out whether people are cold or thoughtless.
MIL told DH that we would have more time now that Mum was gone. Mind you she also reminded DH, who wasn’t working at the time my mum died, to remember that he still needed to look for a job!

Sunshinegirl82 · 11/04/2018 15:46

It's difficult because at the moment everyone is rallying round my mum and taking her for lunch/coffees etc so she's got a lot of support. I know that won't last forever and will probably tail off quite quickly post funeral. I don't think people mean anything by it but the reality is they just don't feel it quite as keenly and the impact on the majority of people's lives is actually fairly minimal after a while.

One of the things I'm finding most daunting about this whole thing is how much my mum is going to need me long term. She pretty independent and her and dad were always off out to things, theatre, holidays etc. She has friends but it's not the same is it? It feels like the whole course of my life has changed overnight.

I really miss my dad today.

Thinking of you all.

alibaba1980 · 11/04/2018 17:17

I agree that I don’t think people are being mean, they just aren’t sure what to say or don’t feel so deeply as we all do. I remember feeling angry after my Dad’s funeral that for most people that came they would all go home and get back to normal but for me there was no normal anymore. My entire life changed during the moment that my Mum rang to say Dad had died. I had not only lost my best friend but now I have to look after my Mum as well as my children and job. And I can only spread myself so thinly before I have a total meltdown.
I know a few friends who have left Facebook because it was making them feel so bad. I often wonder what benefits it actually has but I still look at it every day!!

MyGuideJools · 11/04/2018 17:53

I totally agree about life changing.
My parents were always on holiday, theatre, days out etc.
Now it's just mum I feel like I need to keep her occupied. Dad was so worried about leaving her, it was heartbreaking. I promised him I would look after her.
I work shifts so on my days off I take her shopping or out for dinner. But this means I don't get time for me.
I hate the thought of her sitting at home alone thoEnvy

VienneseFingers · 11/04/2018 20:38

Yes, totally agree with the life changing. I also have my Mum to look after now - not elderly, but has relied totally on my Dad to do things for so long. And she is lonely.

My friends told me early on that I needed to make time for myself - I think they meant to grieve and I get what they were saying, but I can't see that happening. I don't think they realise how totally my life has changed and not just because I miss my Dad.

To be fair on everyone, I am sure I was the same before. You don't and can't understand unless you've been there and you wouldn't wish it on anyone. I have noticed though that I can tell those who have been through a close bereavement because they act differently.

MyGuideJools · 11/04/2018 20:42

obviously I meant Sad and not Envy

VienneseFingers · 11/04/2018 20:57

Jools. I 'read' it as a guilty face. Every time I'm not with my Mum and she is on her own, especially if I'm having a nice time (i.e. Watching something good on tv) then I feel guilty and worse than ever.

MyGuideJools · 11/04/2018 21:25

I feel the same Viennese and I don't know what the answer is or where it will all end.

Sunshinegirl82 · 11/04/2018 22:12

I'm hoping we'll be able to find our way to a new normal eventually but it feels a long way away at the moment.

I figure mum does need to be by herself sometimes (I know I do) but it breaks my heart to think she might be lonely.

This is all the stuff I didn't think about before this happened to me. I knew I would miss dad a spectacular amount but the weight of responsibility for everything else has been a bit unexpected. I guess we just have to keep on keeping ok.

I hope everyone has a peaceful night.

MyGuideJools · 11/04/2018 22:49

sunshine you're right, we have no choice but to keep going. I also just thought about how much I would miss Dad, but, selfishly didn't look past that.
it doesn't help that I have a sibling who lives a 4 hour drive away and is oblivious to my worries and phones mum once a week as they did before dad diedConfused
I try not to feel resentful but it's hard.

VienneseFingers · 12/04/2018 08:26

Jools- same thing with sibling here. I was vaguely aware that I would be the one closest, but thought this would be the situation in 20 years or so when our children would be grown up. Not now.

CaptainNancyoftheAmazon · 12/04/2018 08:41

Hi, I guess I need to join you as my dad died yesterday. He fell ill suddenly around this time last year but nothing the doctors found explained quite how ill he was. We all worried that he was terminally ill but its really only been confirmed in the last couple of months. His final days were in a hospice & he was in so much pain that I couldnt want him to stay like that. I thought because Ive been grieving a bit all year that I would be prepared but I had no idea. I'm currently rocking between numb and heartbroken & clinging to the numb because its easier.

My dad wasnt a huge part of my everyday life. He lived a fair way away & had a tendancy to hibernate when stressed so we'd email, text and phone but perhaps only see him a couple of times a year. But he loved me & I loved him.

My parents have been divorced a long time and he was very happily married. Im not really involved in any arrangements, which with 3 year old twins is probably a good thing.

I think Im guilty in the past of not realising how much someone would be grieving when they lost a parent. I guess you just cant know.

Im finding it hard with 2 small children. They are not exactly grieving but picking up on the sadness around them and we've had screaming tantrums lasting up to an hour this week. But then they can be the sweetest, most loving people.

Sunshinegirl82 · 12/04/2018 10:00

I'm sorry about your dad captain. I'm only a week in so can only say that the numbness is quite normal. I still feel pretty numb most days. The love is what matters really, all the rest is just details.

It's really hard having young kids and trying to deal with all this. In some ways though I think it helps as I have no choice but to get up and actually do things and DS is such a joy and my dad loved him so much.

This sounds really bloody selfish but I kind of assumed both my parents would be around to support me whilst I went through this phase of my life and now I feel like it's all on me to be everything to everyone forever. I'm lucky though that my sibling is not too far away and has always spent a lot of time with my parents (no kids yet). I'm devastated that if I have another child they'll never meet my dad. This is all just so shit.

Flowers to everyone.

CaptainNancyoftheAmazon · 12/04/2018 11:37

Im sorry about your dad too sunshine & indeed everyone's parents. I read through this thread yesterday and it helped me a lot but Im so sorry everyone is going through this.

I think I felt the same way, that at this time my parents would be my support but they've both got frail so quickly - my inlaws too. It is true that it helps having small children - life has to carry on as normal for them. And I can see my dad in them, though it devastates me that they wont know him as they grow up. He was a maths teacher & a board game geek with a love of stories. Just would have been an amazing grandad to my boys. I wont be having any more but I can imagine how hard that would be.

My friend has taken the afternoon off work to take me out.

alibaba1980 · 12/04/2018 14:29

Please don’t be too hard on siblings who live far away. I am an only child so everything has fallen to me yet I live 4 hours away from my Mum so I can appreciate how hard it is for those of you who live near your parent but also what it’s like to not live near. I would dearly love to live nearer to my mum, see her every day and take her out, so I feel guilty that I only visit 6 times a year and ring once a week (twice since Dad died). But I can’t do anymore, I have a job and a house here, my son is at school and I don’t want to move, which also makes me feel guilty! So I’m guessing it’s the same for your siblings.

I’m sorry to captain for having to join us. 💐

MyGuideJools · 12/04/2018 17:31

I get you alibaba and I'm sorry if I upset you. I know my brother has his life and does probably wish he was nearer to mum.
I just get frustrated sometimes trying to do everything myself.
please accept my apologies Flowers

alibaba1980 · 12/04/2018 18:18

There’s no need to apologise, I’m not upset and I didn’t mean it to sound aggressive! I was just playing devils advocate! It’s a hard situation for us all to be in, near or far! 💐

PAtothegruesometwosome · 13/04/2018 00:37

Can I join you all?!?... Having one of those nights where you go to bed, your mind starts racing ten to the dozen and then you start crying because you miss your Mum so much.

I lost my amazing Mum last August, very suddenly and traumatically within eight weeks of diagnosis of terminal lung cancer. Two days before her death her and my Dad moved in with us so we could support and help with her care as she physically couldn't live in their house. No one knew she was going to die so suddenly as we were told 12-18 months but two days later she died.

I keep going over and over in my head the day she died. I had taken the kids uniform shopping as we had literally relocated to a new area a month before with my husbands job and needed uniform for their new school. My dad rang me to say she was suddenly unwell, I rushed home and he was on the phone to an ambulance. I swear she was breathing, barely when I got there... I put her in the recovery position and told her how much I loved her but in the minutes between that happening and the paramedics arriving I believe she died. They managed to get her heart going but she wasn't breathing and she officially died in A&E an hour later. Every single day I question the events of that afternoon, I see them trying to help her and ask myself why didn't I give her CPR.... What could I have done to help save her?

My mum was my best friend, we spoke multiple times a day, holidayed alone together and generally saw each other as much as possible. Now I just feel so empty and lost without her.

My poor Dad is a mess, he's in a terrible state of depression. Doesn't sleep well and was very much the generation of the wife doing everything bar finances. He had only recently retired so feels guilty for having worked so long but they had a lovely life together and really did love each other. My Mum was worried Dad would be like this and asked me before she died to look after him. I'm trying my best but I feel so useless and still selfishly tied up in my own grief. We've moved him into a bungalow a couple of miles away and see him a few times a week but it's hard for him as he knows no one where we live and is so lonely and low.

Due to timing of us literally just moving to a new area, Mum becoming ill and then subsequently dying, I've not worked in 8 months and really starting to feel lost without a sense of purpose as my children are teenagers so much more independent. It's tricky as I feel so much pressure on my shoulders to be there for the boys, my husband and my dad and that I am constantly juggling everything let alone the prospect of work which I really need to do to ease the financial burden on my ever so supportive husband. I have hardly any friends here as meeting people when you have older children is hard and I've been a bit of a recluse hiding away from life. I just feel like life is one big car crash.

I guess it's all suddenly come to a head today as I saw my dad and he's not in a good place emotionally. He's a very stoic man so showing or talking about emotions is massive for him and very out of his comfort zone, especially with his daughter. My only sibling lives abroad and has checked out quite a lot with their own busy life and we aren't very close either so I don't even have anyone in the same situation as me.

Everyone thinks that I'm doing really well, that life has moved on and almost that I shouldn't keep harping on about my beloved mum who I miss so much. I feel numb a lot of the time and often very angry at life that she was taken so unfairly and too soon from us. I can't stop thinking about her and know that I massively need to pull myself together but have no idea how that will happen!

Sorry for this being so massive, this is the first time I've actually brain dumped how I feel. x

TheWeeMacGregors · 13/04/2018 06:53

Oh PA. Thats a really sad story, what a traumatic experience. It sounds as though your DM knew how much she was loved by you, moving them in is a pretty big thing, that would have meant so much.

Do you feel cheated out of caring for her? Or just time? I thought we had another six month or so, and I feel cheated of that, plus a bit stupid that I let time run out on some of the things I wanted to say.

I too have a stoic 1970s DF who doesn’t do emotion expression. I know he is deeply depressed, and feel guilty for my open tears when he does his privately.

I’m so sorry for you feeling so overwhelmed and isolated too. That must be tough. But like you say, even if you have friends you’re still meant to do the right thing and get over it after a while Sad

TheWeeMacGregors · 13/04/2018 10:53

It’s my DMs birthday today. Week and a half since we lost her Sad

CaptainNancyoftheAmazon · 13/04/2018 13:37

WeeMacGregors Im sorry, that must be so hard today.

PA that sounds very hard. You dont sound like you need to pull yourself together at all, just I wish there was some space for you to grieve too

I wish I had more to offer, feeling very numb today.

PAtothegruesometwosome · 13/04/2018 20:33

Thanks so much for your lovely words WeeMacGregors.

I'm sending you a massive hug for today, it must be so hard having to deal with your Mum's birthday today so soon. I've got my Dads birthday on Sunday, his first since Mum died and know it's going to be a tough day for him as Mum always made such a fuss of him. I'm making his favourite roast and cheating with a M&S cake for him :)

You're right, Mum knew how much she was loved and we openly said it all the time. I would have done anything for her and tried my best to be there for her. Funnily enough the day before she died it was a lovely sunny afternoon and we sat in my garden with her giving me advice on my flowers and talking about how no one apart from me actually spoke about her dying and talked around it all. I always told her I'd talk to her about anything and we were lucky to have the relationship where we could. I miss her so much though.

I really think you are on the money about feeling cheated. We all thought we had so much more time...
I remember her consultant ringing my Dad on the Sunday morning after he was told she had died by A&E - what an amazing and caring oncologist! He couldn't believe she had died so suddenly and echo'd that it was so unfair she had died so suddenly. I know we had said everything we needed to say I knew she loved me and visa versa but we had so many ideas for things to do with the time she had left. All I take comfort from is the fact that she didn't have to go through pain and suffering that I knew would have been ahead if she hadn't died so suddenly. But its a bitter pill to swallow.

It's hard holding emotions in isn't it. I find that on the rare occasion that Dad opens up to me and gets a bit choked up I end up welling up and find it hard not to be upset that I see him in pain and can't do anything for him.

CaptainNancy - Thank you so much. At times I think I'm teetering on the edge but know I'm made of strong stuff and think you are right, I don't feel like I've had much chance myself to grieve. I've always been trying to look after everyone and all of my family and friends tell me I need to look after myself, but it's something I'm not very good at doing and try to keep busy looking after everyone else. However at times I just really want to run away from life massively and go lie by a pool with a pile of books and escape life!!! I wish eh!

Hope you had a lovely afternoon with your friend.

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