The Survivor
The survivor is plagued with a sense of loss (aka grief), which may be further complicated by feelings of remorse, guilt, anger, shame, regret, hatred – all depending on the way the loved one died, or the way the two of you reacted to each other.
Some families lose contact with each other, either intentionally or unintentionally, and never speak for years. There may be underlying feelings of remorse, regret, guilt for not having communicated with the loved one during their life. Maybe there’s even a feeling of relief that they’re gone, followed by guilt over feeling relief. It can be a never-ending circle of unwanted, powerful emotions that just won’t go away. And in the off chance that you can “forget” them, you’ll notice that they will pop up again and again throughout the rest of your life, bringing the same emotions back into play.
Some families lose contact with each other, either intentionally or unintentionally, and never speak for years. There may be underlying feelings of remorse, regret, guilt for not having communicated with the loved one during their life. Maybe there’s even a feeling of relief that they’re gone, followed by guilt over feeling relief. It can be a never-ending circle of unwanted, powerful emotions that just won’t go away. And in the off chance that you can “forget” them, you’ll notice that they will pop up again and again throughout the rest of your life, bringing the same emotions back into play.