A FUNERAL is sometimes misunderstood as drawing a line under a bereavement: that it represents a closure. This is not the case. An important ritual in the process of mourning, a funeral is more of a start than an end point. The bereaved now face a life without their loved one, and this could involve significant change, particularly if the loved one played a central part, such as that of a spouse.
Elsie, 75, described how she had never slept alone in a house until her husband died. To have nobody under the same roof made her nervous every night, until she started getting used to it.
Kathy, widowed unexpectedly, explained: “I had a lovely priest who was incredibly sympathetic to the whole situation surrounding my husband’s death, but there was no further bereavement support [after the funeral] provided by the church.
“This lack of support left me really struggling, especially with my feelings about God and what had happened. I really needed to be able to talk through everything from a religious aspect, which I couldn’t get with conventional bereavement counselling.”
A funeral is not the end of the road, says Abi May, but many mourners feel isolated afterwardshttps://t.co/od0Q0JSMuh
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 27, 2024
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