ABSTRACT
Death is always shocking, no matter how expected it is nor how long it has been coming. It is impossible to live with the full awareness ofdeath's nearness. Even when a parent's death is inevitable, it is still not possible to be fully prepared for it. In order to cope with the probability of a parent's death in the near future and yet still carry on living, we have to dull our minds and emotions to death. It would simply be too painful to bear otherwise. Even if we know with a part of our minds, we stop ourselves from knowing with many other parts. It has to be like that, it is not a form of weakness or stupidity or false optimism, it is a form of survival. It is impossible to prepare fully for a parent's death, and however a parent dies it will always be a shock. In addition, the way in which your parent dies will affect the way you react to the death and also the way you are likely to mourn your loss.
