Tag Archives: death of a parent

Death of the Very Elderly

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Recently a relative of mine lost her mother. The deceased was exactly 100 years old. Certainly she had lived a full and happy life and was relatively healthy, even in her declining years. The following are the comments that most of the mourners relayed to my relative and her responses to them: “”Yes, Mum had a long life”, “Yes, Mum was lucky to live so long”, “Yes, Mum, was pretty healthy till the end”. But there was one mourner who tackled the real issue. She said to my relative: “I’m so sorry, you will miss your mother”. And that was … Continue reading →

Preparing Yourself for the Death of a Parent

Many people fear the death of a much-loved parent and wonder how they will cope when the event arrives. After all, losing a mother or a father is a once in a lifetime occurrence since we are only given one parent. That parent may be a birth parent or a much loved step-parent who took over when our biological parent was unavailable for a variety of reasons. Whatever, the case, it is a difficult milestone in our lives to lose a parent. Everyone copes with this event in different ways – not all of them healthy. But to help minimize … Continue reading →

Why it can be hard to lose a parent you dislike (1)

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Some of us are really lucky and have parents that we love pretty much equally. They may have vastly different personal qualities, but overall, we would be hard pressed to say which one we prefer. Alternatively, we may have one parent who we dearly love, and the other one is disliked for a number of reasons. So when it comes to losing one of these parents in death, we would assume that it would be far harder to lose the parent we adore. After all, hasn’t the other one been a thorn in our side for as long as we … Continue reading →

The Aging Narcissist (3)

It is tempting to make excuses for the behavior of an aging mother or father who may be living on their own with failing health. But in dealing with the aging narcissist, this normal sense of human compassion will be used as a tool by the narcissist to exploit and manipulate their well-meaning adult child. The aging narcissist has the same needs for respect and compassion as any elderly person. The problem is that the primary caregiver, often an adult child who has long suffered at the hands of this self-absorbed person, must cope with the increasing levels of narcissistic … Continue reading →