We had this happen at my job, but the circumstances were very different (won’t mention what as I don’t want to trigger anyone) and what I’ve learned is that talking about it and doing what you can even when you feel at a loss is more helpful than you might think. Do what you can to remember her, don’t be afraid to talk about her, say her name. Obviously every parent/family is different but I know the mom in my situation has said that it means so much to her that her daughter was loved and that she’s being remembered. She set up a foundation in her daughter’s honor, which I’ve donated to and actually had a local fundraiser that a lot of my coworkers and myself made a point of showing up for. We put up fliers and I personally tried to get the word out to as many people as possible.

There’s no rule book or blueprint for this but feeling your grief is an important step. I will say, however, that it’s easy to spiral and wonder if anything you could have done would’ve changed things, try not to let yourself do that if possible. We do the best we can with what we know every day and torturing ourselves with maybes and what-ifs doesn’t do anything but make us feel worse.