Introducing...Grief

I had to tell my kids tonight.  I mean, they already knew.  I have done my best as a mom to prepare them for this over the last few years. But tonight I had to tell them that Nana's  time on earth is coming to an end.  But how can I prepare them when I am not prepared myself? My daughter is 13 and has tears but she deals with things differently than I do.  She is strong. Or maybe she is just not  understanding the finality of it all.  My son is 15 and has always been a wise person.  My son who now towers over me.  My son who has such strength of character sobbed.  He initially hid his grief.  Once when he was a young boy I decided to clean his room and get rid of some of his stuffed toys.  I went looking for him 20 minutes later and couldn't find him.  He was hidden wrapped up with all the stuffed toys and crying.  He was not ready to let them go.  Tonight when I told him that Nana was nearing the end he did much the same thing.  He went into the bathroom and quietly gave way to his grief.  I called him out and asked him to come and sit with me.  He at first refused, he wanted to hide his grief.  He came from the other room, eyes red and tears streaming down his face.  My tall strong son, broken.  I put my arms around him and told him he did not need to hide away the hurt.  We sat for several minutes and now he is in bed.  I can hear him sniffing.  My mother heart wants to go to him and tell him everything is going to be ok.  But, it isn't going to be okay.  This is going to cause pain for a long time, maybe for the rest of his life as Lana can attest to.    I realize one of the awful lessons we need to each our children is how to hurt, how to grieve.  It is a hard lesson.  But it is my job to teach them to open their hearts and allow the pain to flow out.  


Namaste