wow. what an intense story. It is tricky to explain to kids. I, unfortunately, dealt with the death of my own parents at a very early age. So there is a bit of fear and trepidation on my part to broach the subject. I try really hard to make sure I don't allow my 6 yo to attach any fear to what is a natural life cycle. We observe the life cycle in nature every day... so I try to make examples of it that way- what happens to make a flower, what happens to the flower at the end of its life cycle., etc. I also don't want to attach any religious beliefs to it, since most are fear based anyway & no one really knows what will happen in a spiritual sense after death. We haven't had to deal with anyone near to us passing away yet, so we will cross that bridge when we get there.
Right now I am just dealing with her hearing about violent deaths from her classmates who's parents are a bit permissive with what their children watch on the boob tube- which is unfortunate: https://steemit.com/life/@marydouglas/school-bus-spooky-stories-20171221t93534625z
I really enjoyed your post. something to think about.
Thanks for your comment @marydouglas. Of course, I don’t know for sure, but I think that, as you seem to be doing, explaining that death is natural and a part of everyday life is important. My children haven’t dealt with the loss of any close relatives yet either, but I hope that when that time comes they will be as comfortable as anyone can be with the concept of death and loss and will be able to accept it without fear.