Every parent’s worst nightmare is outliving their child. The natural cycle of life is for children to see their parent’s through their final years and ultimately outlive them. When tragedy strikes and a child is taken from their parents by mortality, the parents are left devastated. This is something we would not wish upon our enemies, but sadly, it happens entirely too often, and will probably happen at an increased rate in the future. Medical professionals have predicted a tragic epidemic of parents outliving their children due to poor diet and health choices.

When parents outlive their children, they are naturally consumed by grief. Parents have an intrinsic sense of responsibility toward their children to care for them and watch over their well-being. It does not matter what age they are; parents always feel a care-taking responsibility toward their child. This is simply the parental calling. When a child passes away before their parent, the parent naturally feels like they have failed at their primary function in life. This results in unspeakable pain and anguish that may last many years into their life.

The pain of losing a child is capable of crushing a parent. Many grieving parents slip into crippling depression or other kinds of mental illness. Others attempt to drown their pain in addiction or substance abuse. A grieving parent will act out of character for themselves simply to run from the overwhelming pain. In order to prevent losing one’s self to the pain of a deceased child, it is important to allow the grief to run its course. Rather than trying to escape the pain, grieving parents should lean into it and walk through every stage of it. They should have a loving support system close by to turn to when they feel lost, but they should not ignore, numb or run from any stage of their grief. Only in facing it fully can it be brought to a close.