Sorry for the non-BP related thread, but I think people with mental illness, like you guys, are so understanding and could give me advice.

Anyway, right before my grandma died on Monday last week, my sister handed her a religious Jesus cross necklace. My grandma held it in her hand tightly and smiled as she took her last breaths.

I was thinking about giving the cross to my cousin even though the cross means a lot to me. I'm not religious, but I know how religious she was (Catholic). I'm not sure if I should give it to him, though.

Quick background (about him being a war veteran, so hopefully this isn't triggering):


When my grandma died, he mentally could not go to her funeral. He had suicidal thoughts and it triggered his PTSD somehow. (Maybe it was her death that triggered his thoughts of other people's deaths? Not sure and I wasn't going to ask.) My grandparents were like 2nd parents to him because he would go over their house 2-3 times a week--oftentimes sleeping over--throughout his childhood and early adulthood. Both deaths wrecked him.

My aunt said that when he went to his psychiatrist on Tuesday last week (the day after she died), he was there for about 2 hours. Normally, his appointments are 20 minutes long, if that, but he stayed for nearly 2 hours. My aunt figured he broke down and cried. (He never cries at all, either. She has only seen him cry once or twice in his life.) He also normally texts her multiple times a day, but never texted her once. (They live together, though.)

Do you think I should offer the cross to him? If so, how should I go about doing it? I'd have to mail it to him, but that's not a problem.