Losing a loved one is always difficult.  It seems to me that it would be hardest for the parents of a child and also for young children losing a parent.  Thankfully, I have never been faced with the death of a child, and I was an adult (although barely) by the time that my mother died.  So, even though that was hard, it was much, much different than it was for my significantly younger brothers who had just entering their teens.  
However, I think that a part of the problem in the US consists of the fact we don't speak of death and treat it as something foreign to life.   I think this makes it so much harder for us to deal with death when it comes.  I think that the hard decisions that need to be made are so much easier when people do as your mother did and make their wishes known to family members.
I realize that this does not apply to children, who are a special, heart-wrenching situation.