Anticipatory Grief Reflection

I believe that grief has many manifestations, thus, it is individualized to the patient, family member, friend, and situation. I agree that the grieving process may be similar in some ways, nevertheless, it can be manifested differently. In my personal experience, due to my mother’s terminal illness and progressive deterioration, anticipatory grief was experienced by everyone. My mother was a very active person, strong in her faith, she loved to go to church, and cook for the family, something that she was not able to do that Thanksgiving or Christmas; her loss of independence greatly affected her and everyone else. Acute grief also accompanied the anticipatory grief, as with deterioration, acute, small, daily losses came from the inability

Throughout the illness, I felt emotions of anger, angry at myself for not spending as much time as I should have with her, angry at life itself, as I knew that my mother had lived a hard life, loosing her parents by the age of five, she had been left to fend for herself, hence, I felt that she deserved better, perhaps more time. Depression was also part of the whole experience, with some days better than others, sometimes it felt as if only the family was experiencing this roller coaster, as my mother had come to terms with her illness, she would remind us that God is great, that His love and mercy had allowed us to enjoy and share life together. Finally, acceptance was felt, as I witnessed the progression of the condition, I was ready to let go, ready to no longer see her physical pain and suffering. As my ability to care for her became more difficult due to my emotional state, we admitted her to hospice, where amazing and compassionate care was provided until the