Forever Nester. The grief associated with having a handicapped child. There is so much joy mixed in with the complicated grief.
Grief has stages through which everyone that experiences loss will go. Grief has a definite starting point, with no ending.
Grieving a lost one isn’t just missing them or feeling sad that they are gone; it is that and so much more.
What’s love got to do with grief? Everything. The extent of love determines the grieving process. Love + Loss = Grief.
It is quite probable that we grieve according to our basic personality. How we perceive the world and react to other circumstances can determine how we grieve our losses.
We grieve according to our age. A toddler will grieve differently than a teen-ager. Going through developmental stages at the same time as grieving changes the experience.
Anticipatory grief is complicated. It is grieving a loss that hasn’t happened yet. Caregivers experience burnout at high rates during this period, due to physical and emotional stressors.
The person who will die or leave also grieves about their loss of a future.
Grieving the loss of a child. Losing a child is every adult’s worst nightmare. It is the loss that one never comes to terms with. This grief is never ending. Each missed milestone or life highlight is a new moment to grieve. The loss of a child can be loss to death, kidnapping/run away, infertility, miscarriage, or stillbirth, or an adoption that doesn’t come to fruition.
