Coping with the Loss of a Parent

By: Anika Repole Wilson (Originally Published by: Laptops & Lattes)

There are many hard truths that one must face as we get older. Apart from the vanity of our own aging and emerging grey hair – we come to realise our own mortality and then if not before, that of our parents. It either happens in small glances over time when you realise their back may not be as straight, their walk a little slower, their hair a little greyer, their arms and hands a little weaker. Other times, this may hit you like a ton of bricks when one day you see your parent as no longer the invincible person they used to be, but someone you now feel the need to protect and care for instead of the other way around.

Other times, illness is the heralding factor. Illnesses like Cancer and degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis or Alzhiemers can make your once indomitable parent weak and vulnerable. The saving grace of an illness like this, though difficult to deal with is that you are able to hopefully grow accustomed to the concept of losing them, as you lose pieces of them daily in relation to the progression of their illness. This, depending on the individual and one’s coping mechanisms, can be easier than dealing with sudden or tragic death. However regardless of cause, there is still nothing that can prepare you to lose your parent. 

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