My child has died. How do I talk about my grief?

18 “How open can I be with other people?” It is up to you to decide when and how much to talk about your child. It is also up to you to decide how open to be about how you are feeling in your grief. Answering the question “how are you?” is one example. Not everyone who asks this wants a genuine answer. Sometimes it is just a greeting. Depending on the situation and who is asking, bereaved parents can find it helpful to say something like: “As good as I can be” “It’s a hard day today” “As well as can be expected” “I’ll never be the same person that I was” “I never know from one day to the next how I’ll be.” These are honest answers. Generally, it will help you cope better with your grief if there are people you can be genuine and open with. Their kindness won’t change the reality of what has happened, but it can make the grief journey a little bit easier to bear.