13th of June will be 7 years since I lost my dad. I'm not going to tell you lies and say it's not hard but you can make through it. 7 years in my case and I often still get tears in my eyes when I think about dad. Since I've had this last round with depression it didn't stop with just tears coming to my eyes but often I sat and cried until the hurt would start to feel better. My dad passed away at my house of a heart attack associated with congestive heart failure. I performed CPR on him until EMS got there. I've often wondered if I'd started CPR sooner if he'd still be with us. I can't dwell on that if I did I'd run myself even crazier than I already am. The best thing you can do is try to prepare yourself for when it happens and be prepared for the hurt that comes along with the death of any loved one. Take all the time to grieve you need the time frame is different for different people. There's no set time frame and no right or wrong way to grieve. Even though it's been 7 years since I lost my dad I still need to take time to grieve his loss from time to time. I've found that making regular visits to his grave site help me, it gives me a chance to feel close to him and remember the good times we had together. After dad was buried and the grave started to settle I took a shovel and rake to the graveyard with me. I filled in low spots, raked away all the large clumps of dirt and rock. My dad always liked his lawn to look nice kept cut and groomed so I've done my best to make his grave site look nice and a place he would be proud off. There have also been times when I've been down or having problems that I'd go to his grave site and talk to him like I used to do when he was alive and I needed help with a problem. Just because he's gone physically doesn't mean his memory isn't still in my heart. Good luck with whatever the future throws at you and do your best with it, that's all any of us can do. Don't be ashamed to cry regardless of who's around I'm a 57 year old male and if the urge hits me I'm not holding it back.