When my Grandson died at only 4 days old, i struggled to deal with my grief while trying to support my daughter and her husband. I tried to be strong for them, and i did my grieving at home, in private.
We recieved a leaflet from SANDS, The stillbirth and neonatal death society which helped put into words some of the emotions i was feeling. One mother wrote, and i quote " When my child was stillborn, it was my mother's first grandchild.... I never realised that his death would affect her so much. She had looked forward to him, and now she missed him too. I was glad that she showed her emotion, as doing that showed she cared and that she had loved him too".
It made me realise that it was important to cry with my daughter, to share her grief and to recieve comfort from her as well as to give.
We were extremely fortunate that we had 4 wonderful days with my grandson. Days that we shared as a family. We got to hold him, cuddle him, bath and change him, in my daughters case. These wonderful memories of him willl keep us going. There isnt a day goes by, that i don't think of him and cry inside.
It is important to allow yourself to grieve as well as to support the parents. People ask after the parents and sometimes you want to shout.... "What about me???? I'm grieving too!!". Thats what this thread is for, so we can remember the Grandparents who have lost their precious grandchildren and support one another.
God Bless all the tiny Angels. God Bless my Theo!
