When someone is grieving a loss, friends want to be there for their friend through this bereavement, grief, and loss. Friends must strike a delicate balance of providing the comfort and support and not being intrusive to the grieving friend. This is because the grieving friend is at the most vulnerable situation, going through painful emotions of profound sadness.
There are several ways you can do to support a grieving friend, to help the person cope with the pain. Your compassion and support is important to help the person journey through and recover from the healing process.
1. Be there for the friend with love
Lend the grieving friend a listening ear, listen without offering advice. Provide the person with this outlet to let him vent his pain and sorrow and have a good cry. This will help him release all his pent-up emotions, which are vital for him to heal. In addition, through this process, the grieving friend is able to feel your care and concern, which will help him feel less isolated and heal faster.
Depending on the extent of the grief, you may need to organise several sessions in order for the grieving friend to feel better. The mode of session, be it phone, FaceTime or physical face to face, depends on the grieving friend’s comfort level. For some, especially during the initial stage of the after-loss, they prefer to have a phone call as they do not want others to see their physical state.
2. Sending Gifts
Presenting gifts to your grieving friend is a great way toexpress your condolences and show your support, especially when you cannot be physically there for him. There is a list of suitable gift ideas for grieving friend that you can consider. The choice of gift depends on the closeness of your relationship with the grieving friend, his personality and preference. Receiving the gift will help him ease the pain and help the memories live on.
3. Offer help to run errands and complete chores
When your grieving friend is entering the darkness of grief, his physical, emotional and mental state are affected. He will not be able to perform his daily routines effectively, even having his meals regularly.
To show your support, you may offer help to run errands such as grocery shopping, paying the bills. You may also offer to help him complete some chores, such as walk his dog, mow his lawn or clean his house.
When offering help to someone in grief, you will have to be sensitive to his emotions and let him know that you are offering help not because he is incompetent but offering help to show your support. Do ask him for permission and his feedback if he is fine to accept your help. If he accepts your help, ask him on his preferring days and timing to run the errands or complete the chores.
The above ways show your love and compassion to the grieving friend, which is what they need most during this painful period.