Losing a loved one is always a heart-wrenching experience, whether it’s a family member or a friend. However, there’s something especially difficult about losing a sibling.
Siblings are people who understand us and our history in a way that no one else does. Losing them can feel like losing a piece of your childhood and losing someone who truly understands you.
If you’ve recently lost a sibling, there are a few ways that you can heal and cope. Here’s a quick guide on how to handle the loss of a sibling.
Allow Yourself to Grieve
If you’re struggling after losing a brother or losing a sister, you need to give yourself time to grieve. It’s a huge loss, and while it can feel as though you need to move on and hide your grief, it’s important to give yourself time to feel the loss.
Your grief is just as valid as the rest of your family’s and you deserve to take time to experience your feelings. This can help you to move on in your own time and to fully and properly heal.
Stop Feeling Guilty
Another common feeling when you lose a sibling is guilt. Sibling rivalry and relationships can be difficult and can leave you feeling as if you should have treated them differently.
Or, you may feel that your sibling didn’t deserve this and that it should have been you that suffered instead. Whatever you’re feeling, letting go of this guilt is an important part of dealing with loss.
Take Care of Yourself
Unfortunately, when we suffer the death of a loved one it can be all too easy to ignore our own well-being. You may feel that getting out of bed is a struggle, or that you don’t have the energy that you used to.
Coping with loss by staying in bed may feel comforting, but it’s important to continue to take care of yourself no matter how difficult it feels. This is part of moving forward and staying healthy, even when the going gets tough.
Remember Your Brother or Sister
One of the best ways to heal and move forward after the loss of a sibling is to find ways to remember and honor them. It’s a way for you to relive beautiful moments with your sibling and to remember their presence in your life.
There are many ways that you can look back in fondness on your sibling’s life and feel them with you again. Doing so can help you cope with loss and move forward.
Closing Thoughts on the Loss of a Sibling
The loss of a sibling is extremely difficult. But it doesn’t mean that you will never move forward. With time and with these coping strategies, you can slowly start to heal after this type of loss.
If you recently lost a sibling and are in need of assistance following their death, the team atKuzo and Foulk Funeral Home can help. Get in touch and we’ll help you with cremation, funeral planning, and more.
Our family-owned funeral homes, Kuzo and Foulk, are here to help the Kennett Square, West Grove, and surrounding PA communities. Whether that’s with preplanning, a death in the family, cremation, a casket, the funeral service, or a funeral director, we’re here for you. Contact us for all of your funeral needs.