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… the past warms the future with the wild breath of memory.
—EUGENE MAHON (1983)
BOTH MARIANNE KRIS AND ANNA FREUD WERE SUPERB COUNselors to parents who wanted to have help in caring for their children at times of crisis. The crises that will be considered in this paper are those of general health, of education, and of loss or threatened loss through abandonment and death or divorce.
In a series of vignettes, I shall illustrate the basic principles of preparing children for crises that can be anticipated as well as those which come unexpectedly. Of course, Marianne Kris also took on the postcrises "preparations" and guidance that were useful to children and their parents in their dealing with profound challenges to children's intellectual and emotional development. She understood so clearly how preparing for a major event or challenge in one's life is followed by coping with its impact after the reality experience has taken place.
Preparation is an ongoing process. For example, preparing a