ABSTRACT
The community of L’Arche Daybreak is rich in diversity of age, intellectual level, religious background, and means of communication. In recent years the authors have grieved the deaths of several community members, family members, and friends. This chapter deals with the three stages in the grief process—anticipatory grief, intense grief, and bereavements—describing the steps people have found important to take before the death occurs, the actions they take at the time of death, and the ways in which they facilitate the grieving process after the loss. It gives the greatest attention to the first stage because he believes that if it is lived with depth, the actual death and later bereavement is much more likely to be smooth. It becomes clear that in each stage, while some steps may be particularly helpful for someone with an intellectual disability, many can be of value to the so-called “normal population” as well.
