Honesty Is Always The Best Policy

Start with honesty, gently given. Children, even very young ones, often sense when something is wrong. Speaking openly—using age-appropriate language—gives them permission to ask questions, to feel, and to begin to understand.

You don’t have to have all the answers. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is, “I’m here with you, and I love you.”

Next, create memories that will last beyond a lifetime. Write letters for future milestones: birthdays, graduations, weddings. Record short videos, telling them the things you would want them to hear: advice, encouragement, your pride in them. These small treasures will become priceless gifts they can return to whenever they need your voice.

Practical organization is another act of love. Set up your affairs clearly and thoughtfully:

• Write or update your will.

• Write your personal letters to your loved ones.

• Name guardians for your children.

• Organize important documents—birth certificates, medical records, insurance details—into a life binder that a trusted loved one can easily access.

• Leave clear instructions about your wishes, both for your children’s care and for your own end-of-life decisions.

If possible, involve your support network now. Family members, close friends, teachers, and counselors can help create a circle of stability around your children when the time comes. Let them know it’s okay to lean on others; it doesn’t mean loving you any less.

Finally, remind your children in every way you can that even though you may not be there physically, your love remains. Love is not limited by time or place. It lives in every lesson you taught, every hug you gave, every bedtime story you read.

Preparing your children for what’s to come is an act of courage, heartbreak, and immeasurable love. In doing so, you give them a gift that no illness can ever take away—the enduring certainty that they were, and always will be, deeply loved.