For the bereaved, there seem to be more helps, counsellors, books and leaflets available than ever before; and money, if you are really clever at multiple form-filling while still numb, crying or in shock. Some Christians, I find, despise the professionals as being somehow 'unspiritual'. I don't; but certain items still seem to be missing from the package.
I write this a few months after the death of my wife, following a comparatively short illness which we both knew was terminal. Sudden deaths and ten-year 'battles with cancer' have their own contrasting extremes of experience and need. Ours was different; but then, everyone's is different. I write here not for widows and widowers, but for their friends; sooner or later, that means you.
I dare not frame my suggestions as commandments; just ideas, recommendations or pleas- please! I give you only three; in my current state, small numbers are easier to cope with.
