Explain Death To Children

How do I explain death to my children?
Many children have lost loved ones due to the attack on America on September 11th. It is never easy to explain death to a child but remember you'll need to get down to their level, otherwise they will never understand. Here are some questions and answers that may be helpful when explaining death.

What is death?
For everything that is alive there is a beginning and an ending and the time in between is called living. This is true for plants, people, animals, insects and trees. At times living beings get sick or injured and sometimes they become so sick or their injury is so bad they cannot recover and are unable to live any longer. Do you know that certain trees can live a hundred years or more? Some have lived several hundreds years. Did you know that some people have lived to be one hundred? Many have even lived several years beyond that.

Did you know that a rabbit’s lifetime is short? They usually live a year or two and then grow old. They have lived their lifetime and although short, it’s perfectly normal for them to stop living when their lifetime has ended. Have you ever planted beautiful sunflower seeds in your garden? If so, you know they grow big and strong all through the summer but when the end of summer arrives they have lived their lifetime and must stop living.

Did you know that a butterfly only lives a few weeks? After several weeks it will slow down and get too tired to continue flying through the warm air—but that’s ok—because it has lived it’s lifetime. As a rule, bigger animals tend to live longer than smaller animals, such as a tiny bird has a shorter lifetime than a larger bird.

What about the death of people?
Today with more people taking better care of themselves many people are living past eighty, and more are making it to live a hundred years. Once they become sick or badly injured they will die. It will be sad, but they have lived their lifetime. Some have a longer lifetime on this earth, while others have but a short while. Whether they have had a short lifetime, or a very long lifetime, they have lived in between—and that is how you can always remember them. The way they lived will stay with you all your lifetime. The promise of seeing that person again, according to your religion will bring joy to your heart.

Below you can find information for donating blood and giving your support.

American Red Cross

© 2001 jcpinkerton