rock star belts

and separately...

exams gowns

How do you think they would look paired together?
8:36:36 PM     comment []

Young Adults

When parents of young adults die, their deaths occur during a period when children are at the end of their childhood and they are completing a necessary separation from their parents. A parent's death at this time is disruptive and bewildering. While growing up, children can seem indifferent to parents, when actually they have been striving to become their equals. If they are deprived of fully reaching that goal, they may feel betrayed. The tremendous loss the young adult feels can undermine a budding sense of independence.

Young adults will suffer the loss of companionship and guidance, while feeling denied a future that was to be shared as adults with the parent. They will not know the satisfaction of seeing their parent's joy as they enter into a career or marriage. As young adults they probably have anticipated having children of their own. They realize their children will not know that special bond between grandchild and grandparent. Like younger children, young orphaned adults may periodically mourn the lost parent for the rest of their lives.

Factors That Influence Grief

With the passing of both parents there comes the realization that this connection with your youth, your history, is gone. You are now the older generation, confronted with your own mortality. Ben Hecht wrote about this awareness in Child of the Century. "I can recall the hour in which I lost my immortality, in which I tried on my shroud for the first time and saw how it became me. The knowledge of my dying came to me when my mother died."

Just moments ago, I took my coffee and a cigarette out to the patio and grabbed some mail to look at while I smoked. I had been avoiding this large package from my Dad's credit card company because I was certain that it was full of forms for me to fill out regarding the transfer of the card. Instead there were two booklets enclosed and a letter expressing condolences. The first book is entitled, Coping with Loss and is about the technical things you have to deal with when a family member dies. It actually has some helpful information. The second booklet is entitled, When Your Parent Dies and includes the passages I quoted above.

Things like this are a daily factor in my life.
10:55:57 AM     comment []