My son, 3 this month lost his grandmother earlier this year. It was an adjustment for him but kids are resilient little creatures. He will randomly start talking about her and we embrace it. When we visit her old house he will hop right in her chair and say “where’s grandma?” but generally speaking he’s doing just fine. We did not allow him to go to the visitation but he did go to the funeral. He walked right up to the casket and said “goodnight” then ran right back off to play.

We also had the chance to grieve and mourn her death prior to her actual passing as she too was terminally ill. We let him hug and kiss and interact just as normal. We never had a “death” talk but he did notice she wasn’t home. She was in a nursing care facility for months leading up to it. He would help her with her treatments and talk about how it makes her feel better.

After writing this I have no idea if I’ve answered your question or just rambled a bit but I hope this helps in some way.