What was it like when your mother/father died?

My father may die soon and I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it.

Even when I haven’t communicated with him much (for periods of months at a time), I have always known he was around and took some comfort from that fact.

But because I’m so used to these silent periods between us, and because he now lives far away, I’m not sure if his death will also be easy to accept or whether I will react differently.

I wonder if anyone has had a similar experience?