There will be plenty of times that we will have to experience traveling when mourning the death of a loved one. There will be times when a loved one that has passed away lives in an entirely different state or country. So, this means we will have to make travel arrangements. Traveling out of state or to another country will require air travel, hotel accommodations, and more than likely reserving a car to get us from point A to point B. Nonetheless, these accommodations may need to be made at the last minute, with no advance notice. Meaning, that we will endure higher prices to reserve any last-minute details. However, we can always check with some of the surrounding hotels, and car rentals to see if they offer bereavement rates. or discount rates. Likewise, we might check AAA and AARP rates.
This post is all about traveling and mourning.
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Condolences and Mourning
When coping with a loved one and their death, we will endure different stages of mourning. When someone is deprived of another due to death, this is a form of bereavement. While we are in the process of bereavement, we will be given condolences by our friends and coworkers. They are expressing their acknowledgment of our loss. Sometimes grief and loss stages will include needing some time off work or your normal daily duties of some sort. Sometimes one may need to be around other family and friends, or just cope by themself. Every person is different, and how they grieve and mourn can be different from person to person.
Coping With Grief
Experiencing death and stages of grief can come in different forms. Such as denial (denying that the person has died), anger (becoming angry that the death has occurred), bargaining (wondering if the death would have happened if things were not done in that particular way), depression (becoming depressed and anxious over the loss), acceptance (finally accepting that the loss has occurred), hope (hoping faith and prayer can get everyone through the loss), and processing (the process of dealing with the loss).
Grieve and Loss – Mourning a Death
Just recently, I was scheduled to travel on business, when I received a call from my sister informing me that one of our brothers was back in the hospital. He was diagnosed with cancer several years ago, and for the last year, every month he was in and out of the hospital. But this time, it was much worse. For almost two weeks he was in and out of a medically induced coma. Then all of a sudden he got better.
They moved him out of ICU, and into his room. He had visitors, he was able to get out of the hospital bed and sit in a chair and was eating solid food. Then within 48 hours after being moved out of ICU, he was rushed back in, and a breathing tube was once again put in. We were told that he was bleeding internally, and his organs were beginning to fail. Then less than 24 hours after returning to ICU, he took his last breath.
Funeral Wake
Stages of grief can and will have plenty of stages of crying. I cried the day that he passed away. I took two days off work, and my coworkers could not believe that I was back so soon. However, I believe it was because we knew we were going to lose him. But, I still had my business trip, which was to New York City. I went on my trip, then went back to work. His funeral service was in the state in which he lived.
Eventually, his service was finalized, I booked a roundtrip flight, one night stay at a hotel near the airport, and reserved a rental car. Because it was finalized at the last minute, I had to pay over $1,100 just for my round-trip plane ride. I arrived the night before the funeral wake service, got my rental car, and checked in to my hotel.
Crying
Because our brother loved the Minnesota Vikings, our niece (our brother’s oldest daughter) wanted everyone to dress in Minnesota Vikings attire, or at least the Minnesota Vikings color scheme of purple, yellow and white. At the church service, I was due to speak, but as soon as I started to speak it hit me that he was gone. This is the point when I cried. After his service, I had to head to the airport to catch my flight.
At the airport, I cried again. I arrived back home and as I was backing my car into my garage I cried again. Then, for the next three weeks, tears would form if I thought of anything about him and our childhood. Today, as I am writing this story, it is the first time I have been able to get on my computer and write. So, this is the reason I shared this story.