How do I prepare myself for my dad's death?

There’s 5 stages of grief and you have to go through each one if you’re gonna prepare for his death. It sounds like a cliche but if you really want to prepare yourself for this, this might as well be the only way through it.

1. Denial: I know you want to kick and scream and say, no, this isn’t true. Thinking that he might just turn around, and things will resume the way they where. But you know what his reality is right now.

2. Anger: You’re going to want to blame something, anything… Anyone for what’s going on and why you don’t have any control over the situation. And even though you shouldn’t do that, it’s bound to happen but it depends on the people you surround yourself with. Someone that really gets why you’re doing this, why you feel this way, and can let you really open up to what you feel, even if it means taking some undeserved lashing from you.

3. Bargaining. When you’ve truly accepted the fact that this situation is out of your control is when you start to bargain with it… Something like… “I’d give anything for this not to happen to him” and yeah, I would to because no one that has a good and honest life deserves to die but these problems are out of our control…

4. Depression. When you really see how helpless you are in that situation is when the pain starts to seep in and you really feel the sadness of it overwhelm you. Don’t be afraid to feel it, it’s going to be there for a while.

5. When you can finally wake up and feel yourself feeling a little normal is when you’ve accepted the fact that this is something that was bound to happen to him. And even though you can’t stop it from happening, you can at least know you’ll be strong enough to be happy after he’s gone because that’s what he would have wanted for you.

Irene, you have to be the strongest person I’ve ever met. Problems between you and me aside, you can get through this… Don’t be afraid to look for other people to confide, or let a few tears shed. This is a really important person to you, if not, the most important. Just find someone you know you can trust to take care of you while you gain the strength to go through each one of these phases. And even though its a cliche putting them like this, its how it works for all of us. He’s lucky to have you as a daughter, and vice versa.

that hes going to a better place…think about all the good memories you had with him…

The truth is - you can’t. Nothing can prepare you for losing a loved one. You may think you’re ready, but when the time comes, you realize you’re not. All you can do is roll with the tide … grieve when you should grieve, and take comfort in those who are close to you. You can’t prepare yourself, but you can get through it. I lost my dad when I was ten … it’s never easy.

I agree with Colleen…