It's overwhelming. I'm shattered by Liz's death. All I want to do is shut myself in my room, but I have to figure out how to support my kids and parent on my own. 

Some children express their grief through behaviour that might be troubling. Others are on their very best behaviour as they try not to add to the family’s stress. Parents dealing with their own illness, or an illness or death in the family have little energy left over to navigate their child's behaviour.

Children who haven’t been prepared for an expected death by illness often experience it as a sudden or unexpected death. If this is the case, you may find the information in Chapter 4 When Death is Sudden or Unexpected to be helpful. 

This chapter looks at some strategies to help children understand and respond to their feelings of grief. These help most children – and ultimately their parents – whether they’re dealing with a lengthy illness, dying or death.