Beyond death of employees, the issue of bereavment for 20-something startup employees is something we don't talk about much... but sadly it happens to a lot of us. I went through this with my mother-in-law last year, and it was very hard. My company was very supportive and did the right thing for me, which was basically "we support whatever you need to do" and then checking in with emails every couple days.

For me, it was the first close family member I've ever had pass away, so I hadn't even thought about what I would do in the situation and I ended up planning a funeral.