The Changes of Loss

After cremation services in College Park, MD, you will be confronted with a lot of changes in your life and to your life because of the death of your loved one. These are often very big changes that take time to adjust and adapt to.

One of the changes you will experience when you lose a loved one is with relationships. You and your family may notice that some people who were friends and who were close before your loved one died become scarce and more distant.

In part, this scarcity and distancing may be because these people are uncomfortable with the death of your loved one and don’t know what to say or do. This scarcity and distancing may, however, be because your deceased loved one was the connection between you and your family and that group of people. When your loved one dies, the connection gets broken.

On the flip side, another change may be that some relationships with other people get closer and stronger. Death has a way of bringing people that may have been more peripheral in your life into a more central role in your life.

Another reason for changes in relationships after your loved one has died is that you and your family have different interests, priorities, and goals than the people you interacted a lot with before your loved one died.

The routines you and your family had before your loved one died will also change. For example, if your loved one had a terminal illness, much of your time as a family may have been spent involved in caregiving activities, like managing medical appointments, caring for your loved one at home, and spending time at the hospital with them.

Once your loved one dies, those activities will stop. This can be a very abrupt change and you and your family may feel a bit lost without all of your energy and attention being focused on taking care of the needs of your loved one.

In time, you’ll develop new routines, but it will take some time to get used to not having to be on call all the time and having the ability to do things that you may have not been able to do while you were caregiving.

Another change that you and your family will experience after the death of your loved one is that of responsibilities. Usually, within a family unit, different members have different responsibilities that they naturally fall into, either because they’re good at them or they chose to do them.

Your loved one had responsibilities that they took care of before they died. You and other family members will now have to pick those up. If they are unfamiliar or you were not part of the execution before your loved one died, this change can be very stressful.

For example, if your spouse handled all the household finances or took care of all the car maintenance, you and your family may initially be at a loss as to what to do. However, by working together – and using help offered by friends or trusted advisors – you and your family members can learn how to take care of these responsibilities and excel at doing them.

A big change that you and your family may face is in your financial situation. If your loved one was the primary wage earner for the family, you and your family may need to find ways to make up for the lost income their death brings. You may have to work more or enter the workforce after a long absence. This can be very stressful.

Regardless of the changes the loss of your loved one brings, you and your family will learn to cope with them, and, in time, you will be able to navigate them successfully.

If you want information about cremation services offered in College Park, MD, you can talk with our expert staff at Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home, P.A.