No one I know enjoys the feelings from trauma he or she are working through to cope with their loss. There is some comfort when people inquire how others are doing even though they are usually only offering social etiquette. It is important for the rest of us when inquiring how those who are mourning are coping, sincerely and genuinely. It never ceases to amaze me how people educate me through their experiences. One such important aspect we often fail to realize we miss in our inquiry happens when a child is involved of an adult we are speaking. We will ask the adult how they are doing and ignore the child as if they are a non–entity and lost nothing.
Physicians who work in the field of child psychiatry say a child's point of view is very important. We should seek to understand his or her perception of their traumatic loss. They agree the profoundly simple way to accomplish this is to ask them! The sad commonality seems to be that we adults are not recognizing youth in their grief. I am not talking about parents not talking to their own children, but the community inquiring of the parent and not inquiring of the child how they are coping.
We may begin today by being more observant of our surroundings, and people with whom we are in regular contact. If there are families that are enduring a traumatic loss of any kind, seek after them to discover how to be of service, if only to listen, notice, and acknowledge their journey and you are thinking of them from time to time. This also is an important point; visit them occasionally.
