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It depends on personal belief when it comes to approaching the heaven factor. If your child already knows of it and believes in it, you should use it. Also, it depends on the situation. If it's a person that died, saying that they've just gone away isn't going to work. Plus, if the child knows that the loved one is sick, there's a good chance they know that that one is going to die. Let me give two examples from my past.

Keisha was our first dog. Although she was bred for the cold, she hated going in the snow. So when she laid down in the snow one day, we knew something was wrong. When we took her to the vet, we learned that she had liver disease and was not long for this earth. Rather than let her suffer, she was put to sleep. My sister and I were there. I remember hugging her and crying. We were told that we would see her again some day. To this day, I still tear up when reading The Rainbow Bridge.

Although my sister and I have experienced death from an early age, the first funeral I can remember was at the end of third grade. Our uncle, who had suffered various aliments throughout his life, was in the hospital . He was a diabetic who had lost both his sight and his kidneys to the disease. A month or so before, I had written an essay on why he was my hero. Uncle Don was surviving on life support. I had brought a copy of the essay to his room, but I couldn't bear to read it to him. We were there when the machines were turned off. My grandfather was convinced that he killed his son. Mom told us that Uncle Don was no longer suffering and he could now see in heaven.

Losing someone, whether a person or pet, is never easy, but ways must be found to cope. Also, I've found that experiencing death can thicken your skin a bit. Don't yell at me if this sounds wrong. It's from personal experience. Every few years, someone dies in our family. During the last death, which was a few months ago, we simply didn't react to it as much as those who had not been to multiple funerals. I'm not saying that we were not affected, but just that we've been inured to the fact.