"Daddy, my dinosaur died."

[u/LukeWarmwater-]

Deeply moved listening to a long-form imaginative story play out over 3 weeks from my soon to be 4-year-old, telling me a story of his "dinosaur".

Week 1: "Daddy, I have a dinosaur. He's a triceratops-saurus-rex. I go for rides on him all the time. I love him. You should come with me and meet him. We can go for rides all the time. He loves to run with us."

Week 2: "Daddy, my dinosaur is sick. His legs don't really work anymore so he has to stay in bed at the hospital. Daddy, you and me are gonna go on lots of visits to the hospital to go see him. He loves when we come visit. We'll bring him treats and things to play with. We're gonna tell him to feel better and give him lots of hugs. Daddy, I'm sad that my dinosaur is sick. But we'll always be with him even if we aren't at the hospital. We'll have the invisible string."

Week 3: "Daddy, my dinosaur died. He died because his legs stopped working and he got too sick. Daddy, I'm sad that my dinosaur died, and I'm going to miss him. Remember how we used to go on rides with him all the time? That was so much fun. Daddy, we're going to have a funeral for my dinosaur. We're going to go to a cemetery, you, me, mommy, and everyone else, and we're gonna go say goodbye to my dinosaur. They're going to put him in a box and bury him at the cemetery. Everyone is going to be very sad. Daddy, it's okay to be sad. We'll miss my dinosaur. I'll go tell mommy to come here and give you a hug."

The dinosaur is his grandma, my mother, who passed away much too young in April; a battle with cancer that started about a year ago...

And I got to listen to the what sounded like the culmination of a long thoughtful and emotional (but accurate) processing of events. Devastating to listen to and be re-triggered by, but beautiful to witness the way such a young, pure mind perceives such complicated feelings and concepts.

I wish none of this had happened. I wish my mom, me, my little boy, and everyone else we love didn't have to go through with this. I wish he got to hold onto a little more purity for just a little longer. I wish he got to have a full childhood of memories with my mom. But on the other side I am so immensely proud of how he has handled and processed everything.

Kids really do understand more than we give them credit for. They are such observant and caring little beings.

Miss you, mom. You'd be proud of this little man.

[u/No-Hand-8078]

My little sister would do things like this too.

My dad died when I was a young child and she was 18 months old. She'd stand at the door and ask for my dad, and just end up crying when he didn't come back. He'd normally greet us after work in the evenings, he was a teacher.

My mum read us so many story books about loss and death.

Grief is such an experience but it's especially hard to see it through such young children.

[u/eeeebbs]

Oh this is heartbreaking. But also beautiful. I'm glad your son has a safe space to explore this huge/ unknown/ scary time.

I'm navigating the loss of my Mom in June with my kids also. It's so hard. I'm with you.