We lost both of my husband's parents and the family dog all in the last 12 months.  My twins have become very familiar with death.  My daughter actually said something about it being part of the circle of life when my mother-in-law was in the hospital about to die last month. 

We are Christian, and as such, believe that if a person dies having accepted Christ as their savior, they have life everlasting in heaven with Him.  My kids have been able to deal with death pretty well, because they do believe that their loved ones are in heaven and that we will eventually live there, too, when our life here is done.  We have discussed our ideas of what heaven might be like, and they have some very unique and, if I do say so, inspiring ideas about heaven... and I let them express what is in their minds freely, because who really knows what it will be like there?

I know that different people have different faiths, and some have no faith at all, but for our family, focusing on our beliefs and embracing death as just a transition to the beauty and love that awaits us as believers, it has not been too painful to deal with a temporary goodbye. 

TwinmomPlus Nov. 22, 2008 at 12:36 AM

I'm sorry about your family's loss, twinmomplus. Thank you for sharing the heartfelt story of your family's faith and how your children cope with death.

Cafe Kierna Nov. 23, 2008 at 1:01 PM

My daughter hasn't asked indepth questions about death but has dealt with pets passing on from a young age.  May be this isn't a real preparation for dealing with human loss but she was able to understand and deal with her grandfather's death this year. We allowed her to choose whether to attend the funeral which she did.

jackdaw Nov. 23, 2008 at 6:02 PM