When a person lost a loved one, it is an emotionally distressing period for him. He will go through the five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The time taken for him to go through these five stages depends on his current emotional strength and the extent of closeness of his relationship with the demise.
During this grieving period, his family and friends’ support are critical to help him recover from the loss of his loved one. There are numerous ways you, as his friend, can show support for him. Firstly, you can offer your time and help the grieving friend with chores and errands. Depending on the state of his emotions, he may not have the ability to perform his chores, such as meal preparation, taking care of the elderly or young ones, grocery shopping and so on. He may not even be able to run errands for his living. You can offer help to do these chores and errands on his behalf. This will help reduce his stress and give him some time and space to go through the five stages of grief. Secondly, you can offer to lend him a listening ear, where you will listen with no judgement and just let him pour out his sorrows.
Thirdly, if you do not have the time to offer or you are living far away from your grieving friend, you may consider buying him a gift to show your support for him and to convey your condolences. There is a list of gifts for someone who lost a loved one and is grieving that are available in the websites that you can consider buying for your friend. The gifts may be an item to lift his spirits, an item in remembrance of the demise or a gift to keep him company.
Books
Giving him a book provides a great companionship as reading can take his mind off for a while when he indulges in the story plot. A book on experiences shared by others on overcoming the grieving process will lift his spirits and provide him comfort and relief during his grieving process.
Bracelet
Bracelet is an ideal gift for your grieving friend if he is close to the demise. You may consider having the bracelet engraved with some words of condolences to make it a more personalised gift in remembrance of his loved one.
Keepsake box
Gifting your friend, a keepsake box is a practical gift to help him keep the mementos of his loved one in an organised manner. He can use the keepsake box to store the photos and items which bring loving memories for him for the years to come. It will be great to personalise the keepsake box with your words of condolences to show your support to him.
Whichever support that you provide to your grieving friend, he will feel your thoughtfulness and will be touched and be on the road to recovery.
