I have had to cope with death/dieing at a very young age.  When I was only just starting my first day of school as a small child my favorite pet was hit and run right in front of me at the bus stop. It was at that moment I realized life has an ending. 

I have been to several funerals over my lifetime (pets and people).  The most memorable funeral was for my six year old cousin.  He was run over by the school bus we both used.  I was on the bus the day it happened. There are many emotions a person goes through when the one you loved dies. You are not only in shock/disbelief, but the grief (it seems) is endless. It is very important to be comforting and helpful to those affected by the loss.  What got me through was my belief in God and that the diseased felt no more pain. Not everyone believes in God so one should be sympathetic to how the family member(s) are feeling and do your best to console.  

I helped my children, who were 14 and 16 at the time, make arrangements for their father's funeral after he had taken his life.  I would consider that to be one of the most difficult situations to have to plan.  I do regret that the director advised my daughter not to see her father because to this day (she's 23) she still has nightmares where he won't face her but stays in the shadows. 

My most recent experience with funeral planning was just a little over a month ago when my granddaughter  passed away.  My daughter is 23 and she was only 7 months pregnant.  She was having a discharge and went to the ER.  They were having a hard time finding the heartbeat so they did a sonogram and the technician just blurted out that the baby needed to come out now  and that was all they would really say.  When she was born they said she had passed away about 2 weeks before.  She was probably scary to most people, but i thought she was so beautiful...she had my daughter's nose and lips and i held her in my arms for a long time.  She was 2 pounds 3 ounces and 15 inches long. I could tell the nurses were at a loss for words.  My daughter and I had no idea what we needed to do....we didn't have the money for a funeral....didn't know who to call.  We were able to get help from the state...A local funeral home came and took her away and we were to meet with them the next day.  While we were there we gave them the basic info that they needed.  When i asked if i could see her they tried to discourage me saying that she looked worse than the day before, but i wanted to see her and prepared myself....When i walked into that freezing room the first thing i saw was this small square wicker basket sitting on the tilting embalming table ...and i knew she was in there.  The director unwrapped her and she still looked the same to me...just as beautiful! My daughter wanted to bury her baby in the same place that her father was buried.  We were even told that some places would allow a child to be buried in the same plot with an adult...but they wouldn't....then they had nothing available in the baby section there....After my daughter spoke to the funeral home several times she called me crying..she was so frustrated because the funeral was the next day and we had no where to put her.  I spoke to the funeral home and made a few calls to some of the local cemeteries but didn't have much luck.  We did FINALLY find one....it wasn't in the best part of town but.....It was just a small graveside ceremony.  The funeral home pulled up and got a wooden box out of the vehicle and a tiny white box.  They put the wooden box upside down and placed the white box on top with the pink carnation spray we had purchased.  My daughter placed a frame with a picture of Jaycie's hand and her 5 year old sisters' hand beside the white box.  My youngest daughter sang  "Amazing Grace"