Coping with multiple bad news

I have just read this thread for the first time, Disco.
I’m sorry you are dealing with so much now.
All it has been said are good advise. I particularly wanted to stress on not denying your feelings, let yourself being sad or whatever you may feel. Thoughts of sadness are going to appear in your head, don’t deny them but let them pass by accepting without torturing yourself with them. Try to focus on your routine or something your energy let you do to distract yourself. This way, you will mourn little by little each day.

Those moments where you can cope with the pain, write your emotions or whatever you need to write on a journal and open yourself to your son or your husband. Also, be ready when your husband needs to talk about his best friend’s loss.

This is how I cope with loss. Especially, allowing myself to do what I need at a time.
I’ve slept with my doggie’s blanket by me for two months. After three months of his passing I still haven’t been able to see one video of him.
When my dad passed away, it took me six months to open a box of his movies DVDs to place them on my shelf. It takes time and patience. And you have to be very nice with yourself. Don’t feel bad for not being able to have enough energy. Life will not be the same but it will be a new version that may be positive, too. With time.
Even November rain passes by.

Try to take on one thing at a time and process it as much as possible before moving on to the next difficult thing. You're only one person, so you can only do what you can do. It's okay to not jump immediately on everything at once - it's actually not possible to handle a bunch of big things at once very well, IMHO. Best of luck with your situations!

Thanks so much for all the comments, they do help.

One of my parents is very unwell, we don’t know how much just yet. One of my closest friends is extremely ill too.

Those are the main things but there’s a bunch of peripheral stuff also happening. And of course we miss my husband’s very brave friend very much.

I’m not religious but I find myself wishing I had some of the ritualistic stuff, such as prayer right now. I feel like everything is in free fall.

You can be "spiritual" without being "religious." I'm a Deep Ecologist. I connect with nature and that helps a great deal.

That sounds good- I definitely agree there is more than one way to be spiritual and all ways are equally valid.

I should rephrase this, I’m not spiritual, I don’t have any beliefs or connections in this way. I wish I did.

There's no time like the present to start a spiritual practice. You can. If you want to. Spiritual practice...does not have to be connected to a "higher power." It could be as simple as meditating for 5 min a day, wishing others well while doing the dishes, spending time in nature, and committing to volunteering once a week. There's a book called Everyday Spiritual Practice (edited by Scott W. Alexander) where people write about their practices. Everything from knitting to showing up for relationships.

Hugs, friend..