While I know this is totally subjective, how do you hope/expect your support system to show up for your when you’re going through a time in need? I lost my father to dementia a few years ago (he was 65, I was 30) and felt disappointed or had misaligned expectations from others while he was sick, after he passed, and anniversaries (a really tough day for me). I ended up feeling hurt by friends, and I would love to start understanding others experiences more. Anyone care to share from their own experiences?

My father died 11 days after his 52nd birthday, 6 months after last Pfizer dose. I'm heartbroken and angry. The last 3 years since he passed I have been drowning in grief.. I need to heal, I need to move forward.. I need to talk about this with others. I know I'm not alone in my anger & grief.

Side note: I'm not angry at my dad, he was just trying to do the "right" thing.. he didn't want to get it but he was worried about his job & not being able to go to Canada if wanted. I am angry that NO ONE will ever be held accountable for robbing my father of at least 25 more years.

My intuition told me to say no to vaccine, I listened. Thankful I did.

She had a couple of close calls over the years, but she seemed to be doing okay.. except over the last year, she started to give away a lot of her things. I have many recipe books that she gave me. Then, she started to say things along the lines of "I think I'll be meeting the Lord soon" and other things implying she didn't have much time left. We didn't understand because she seemed as though she was healthy.

My grandma passed away in the late evening of November 1st, 2024, at the age of 82. Today was her funeral. I was such a wreck.

She truly lit up every single room she walked into. My grandma had the sweetest smile too. I have no idea how I am going to move forward. I didn't even get to see her one last time, as she was out of state when she passed. I'm gutted.

I am going to miss her phone calls, making Christmas cookies and brownies with her, and all the summers by the lake. I wish I could go back in time about 14 years, just to be a kid again on summer vacation with her and Grandpa in Tennessee, begging her to take me to the pool, driving her nuts with the silly pranks I pulled on her as a kid (like changing her ringtone to something ridiculous then calling her), and sitting beside her while we did crossword puzzles.

Every day with her was such a joy. I am going to miss her dearly.

I keep hoping that I'll wake up, see this was all just an awful dream, see her happy and healthy, and meet up with her and Grandpa at my mom's house on Sunday afternoon.

I guess you never grow out of wanting your grandmother. Rest easy.

World is a joke. It's just a joke. I try so hard, I really do.

What's the point. One person who loved me and truly got me. Hugs, the kisses the games we played. All things that brought me joy. What's the point now

It’s been 22 days since I lost my wife of 52 years. Really random stupid things trigger heaving sobs where ever I might be. Had to pull the car over because of a damn song yesterday. Made a video for a family get together that I play repeatedly every day. My daughter says to leave it alone but I can’t. https://youtu.be/2HsUyA5Vims?feature=shared

Hi all. My finances dog of 14 years, who has been her best friend since she got her, just got some really hard news, saying that her poor pup is living on borrowed time :/ She’s experiencing a lot of anticipatory grief. I lost my dog two years ago and she was so supportive and there for me, and I just hurt so badly right now for her. I feel horrible and I want to be there for her but I am having trouble finding ways to support her other than just reassuring her I am here. I am trying to compartmentalize my sadness as much as I can with her, but obviously I know I shouldn’t be doing that. I just feel lost right now, and I just feel so sad for her and for the poor puppy too:( I just don’t know exactly what to do, I guess im saying. I care so much about her and I love her so much, I just hate seeing her hurt like this.

It’s like as I just typed this message title above, it’s as if a tear formed up in my eyes and just stopped in a millisecond. When I drive over to the house my parents were living in together, I always get a melancholy vibe. Not just the fact his new lady is now living with him, but I just always get either sad or angry when I go over there, but me and my dad always see each other. I love in the house I grew up in a few blocks over.

Am I still in that “new” phase, and how long does it last really? I feel like I always think to myself “people really don’t know what the fuck I’m going through with this.” Of course some sadly can relate, but I’m talking about the ones who still have both of their parents or guardians that were like their parents.

Thanksgiving is coming up, the first official one without my mom’s cooking, and it’s very weird and bittersweet, as my dad can cook just as good, as well as I. We’re gonna throw down, and have some good food. Next up after is Christmas 🎄, and my mom would always play certain music we both loved. I bought her this Keith Sweat “Christmas album” 💿 that’s really damn good, yall should check it out this holiday season, and I’m gonna play that music in honor of her, as I got my love of music from her.

I don't know what to do or how to feel. I'm 23 she was 21. She found out about it a couple months ago (Stage 4) and was scared to tell me. She was told that she had a couple months left to live and because of the multiple heart surgeries she has had prior mixed with her already really bad immune system. She wouldn't survive and would just suffer. She didn't want anyone seeing that, to feel so much pain to see her in that state. She chose to take the get put to rest route. I only found out about it days prior to her death because of her fear of me being in so much pain but she did tell me. She tried to breakup with me to get me to hate her so it would be easier on me but we just couldn't live without one another. She was such a wonderful woman. I've known her for the past 5 years and we were planning on getting married. We helped each other through so much and now she is gone. I'm constantly breaking down. Constantly crying. I've told some friends and my parents because they loved her. Her family knows as well. She left a couple silly wishes for me to do while she's gone. Which I promised I would complete but without her. Life feels so pointless, so cold, so grey. How do I go on without her? I just want to end it all and be with her again. Even if it's for a moment but I know that isn't what she wants.

I know it's typical to miss someone who you lost. But lately, I feel as more time passes, the hole in my heart only becomes deeper and deeper. I knew he was going to pass away, and I think I even went to make a post about how I was scared for when the day was going to come (I don't know if that was on this or my throwaway.) Everything reminds me of him and it's unbearable; even writing this post, because he used to read my stories and absolutely adore them. I want to see him again. I want to hug him again. I want to hold his hand again. I want to be the little girl getting her bicycle pushed by her daddy for the first time without training wheels. It just keeps getting worse and worse. I've read through websites but they don't talk about how it gets worse--they talk about how you learn to live with it. I'm not learning to live with it. I'm suffering more and I don't know what to do.

my friend has passed away on saturday morning and i still can’t accept that he passed away can anyone please help me , ive grown up with him since the first grade , he always stood up for me whenever i needed him . i love him so much i just can’t understand why i believe he’s still here

I lost my father at the age of 10 and today he would of been 61, I remember him well and all the time we spent together. He passed when he was 39.

I am now 30 and over the last few years I have missed him dearly to the point where I break down in tears yearning to speak to him.

Why do I miss a man I didn't really know and have spent the majority of my life without? I spent my entire life hating him for leaving me (he drank a lot which contributed to his passing).

Anyone felt the same?

My sister in law passed away unexpectedly a few days ago. Her husband (my husbands brother) is obviously laking it extremely hard. He’s staying at my in laws because it’s too hard to be at home. We just feel helpless, and are there for him as much as we know how. But I just wondered what helped the most for those of you who lost a spouse.

I lost my dad a few years ago and cards/letters/flowers etc helped so much and meant a lot. But I don’t know it is to lose a spouse.

i have a friend who i was once very close with who was going through a really hard life change. they randomly texted me they love me one night in april and disappeared. i will never know whether or not they took their own life unless one day they reappear and message me. we don’t have any friends in common and i don’t know their family or even their legal name. i have no way to know if they’re alive or not and every so often i think about them for days at a time. i’ve messaged them a few times and i know they would message me back if they saw it.

i hope they are alive and well but deep down i believe they are gone

I just need to let it all out. I (18f) am currently really struggling with my mothers health. In the last two years I noticed my mom (58f) having more and more shortness of breath, I thought nothing of it. Around March of last year my mom was told that she had blown blebs in her lungs, and that her only option to get better was a lung transplant. My mother was the strongest person I have ever met, throughout my entire childhood she could fix any issue we had. I never had to worry about bills, and even if things were tight at times she always found a way to give us anything we wanted. Cut to April of last year, she was forced to take a leave from work because she physically could not fulfill her job as a home health nurse anymore. My mom adored being a nurse, and is the biggest workaholic I’ve ever met, so this is what really opened my eyes. Something was really really wrong. After we found out that a lung transplant was her only option things didn’t really get better, it took a few months to even get a consult about the transplant and since then she wanted to wait until after I graduate to get it. She wanted to make sure she atleast got to see me graduate high school before putting herself through a surgery with a 30% success rate where she would be stuck in a transplant house for months after. During the time between April and now, I turned 18, my mom turned 58 and I’ve had to face the reality that these might be the last birthdays for either of us that we are both present for and it’s devastating. She keeps getting sicker and sicker every time she catches an illness she is contemplating hospice. About two weeks ago she got psudemonas (a rare bacterial infection) and had to be rushed by ambulance to the ER where she was put on a ventilator. She stayed in the ICU for about 6 days, on the vent for 2/3, it was terrifying. I got home from school every day to an empty house and was constantly reminded that this empty house with reminders of her is eventually all my family and I will have left. I visited her in hospital even while she was on the vent but I couldn’t talk much to her as seeing the strongest person in my life not even being able to talk really devastated me. It was hard to look at her without crying but I need to stay strong as she already feels awful enough about her health effecting my life, I can’t let her feel any more guilt about it. Most of my close friends, two of my teachers know about my circumstances and so does my guidance counselor. My friends are great to talk to but I don’t think they could ever grasp how I’m feeling, honestly I don’t think anyone around me can. They all have mothers with lives of their own, their moms have jobs and go to the gym and go grocery shopping, my mother sits at home stewing in her own depression and illness. My mother was the main income, now that she cannot work I constantly have to worry about bills and I work as much as i can to contribute. None of my friends pay their own car insurance, and if they do it’s only to their parents so if they can’t come up with the money or are late it’s not a big deal. We need 2200 by June or they will list my house. The lung transplant itself costs 500,000 dollars, and if the affordable care act is repealed we will have zero chance at it. This is literally the only hope we have of my mom living. My guidance counselor and my friends tell me I’m doing a great job of dealing with all of this which is insane. No I am not. They feel bad for me in the moment but what can they do? Nothing is ever going to make my life the way it used to be. I miss it so much, I miss the person my mother was, I miss my carefree life, I miss being happy and my biggest worry being if my homework was done. All of my friends get to go away for college but I am stuck here, i know if I leave the house won’t be maintained, and i cant waste the very little time I have left with my mom. I know I would never be able to forgive myself if I went away and she died while I was in school. I’m devastated and I really don’t know what to do. I want someone to notice, I want someone to know without me having to explain it to them which i know is crazy. I just feel like im living in a different world from everyone around me. I just miss my mom so much. All of the time I think about her death, and how it will effect everyone, especially my father. The thing about being terminal is you don’t know exactly when it will happen. I live with a “dying” mother. I live in a constant State of limbo worried that she will will get sick one day and not get better. I live in fear that the risky surgery that is her only hope at seeing me graduate college will not succeed, or she will never get a pair of lungs that matches hers. I live in fear that the care we will have to provide her after the surgery will tear my family apart. I am just insanely jealous of every other person my age and it’s crippling. I just want my life back. Im sorry for ranting but Im sick of being told im dealing with it well, im sick of peoples well wishes and im sick and tired of living in fear. Im just so tired. I know it’s a lot for someone my age, I hear it all the time, but life doesn’t stop. I still have to turn in my book report next week, I still have to complete my busy work. I still have to attend college next year to plan my own life, which just feels honestly wrong. How can I have an entire lifetime ahead of me when my mom could no warning die tomorrow. I can answer any questions, honestly if anyone reads this I will be shocked but I really just needed to get it out somewhere. I feel completely and there’s nothing anyone can do to fix any of this.

Long story short, there was my parents, my two older siblings and myself. Mom passed years ago. Older brother and dad passed last year, months apart. Now only myself and my sister remain. I am estranged from all distant relatives from no fault of my own. My parents just never bothered to introduce me to them and we grew up on the other side of the country from them anyway.

When our mom passed; our dad sort of became the glue that held us together even though he and our mom were divorced. He still kept in contact with me and my siblings.

After he passed, 5/2023, I immediately felt a strain be put on my relationship with my siblings but my older siblings were super close because they’re both around the same age and me- well I am 10 years younger. They’ve always viewed me as the spoiled little sister.

Then we lost our brother accidentally 10/2023. My entire world shattered.

Now that it’s just me and my sister we don’t talk. I have tried to reach out but I feel like as more time goes on I barely know her as we never had anything in common to begin with. It’s really hard to talk to her. It just sucks because the holidays are coming and I am completely alone (aside from my dog thankfully).

I am having a difficult time grasping the reality of my brother and dad not being apart of the rest of my life.

She was 18, I'm 19. Keep expecting her to walk through door. Her clothes still in closet, phone bill still comes monthly. Mom wants to clear room but I can't handle losing more pieces of her. When does it stop feeling like nightmare?

It hasn’t even been 12 hours as I write this. I just feel completely broken, she was my best friend, my favourite human being. We were so close. Her 53rd birthday is less than a month away, and then Christmas, New years Eve. I don’t know how I’m going to get through next month without my Mummy.

If any of you feel like sending a virtual hug I could really do with one right now. Sending the biggest virtual hug to all of you in here.

I’m 23F and found my dad dead of a drug overdose in February. In addition to the trauma that I experienced finding him, I was also the executor of his estate. I fought with insurance companies, banks and my family. I worked full time and every waking moment felt like hell.

In the beginning I used to have nightmares almost every night of finding my father. I was suffering from ptsd and was pretty erratic. I would act that day out in my sleep sometimes.

Initially I had dreams of finding him in time and saving him. Eventually, the dreams turned into him walking out the front door and telling me “I won’t be back any time soon.” Finally the saga closed last night, I had one final dream where I couldn’t see my father— but I was taking my grandma to go find him.

I understand not everyone is spiritual, but to me it feels like closure. The nightmares have finally stopped and I am certain my dad is at peace, wherever he is.

Before his children were born, Sarge(my dad) was known for jumping out of airplanes serving in the army. He then switched careers as a bootcamp instructor. Sarge was tough but stern yet always managed to have a joke up his sleeve.Sarge then worked a product specialist before retiring from the army after 36 years. He was predeceased by his parents,Sarge Sr as well as his older sister and his second wife. He is survived by his first wife and two children and was laid to rest in Quantico.

ive been having a hard time with my classes, i feel so weak right now, i get mad at people for no reason, none of this feels real at all though i know it is, and he was the only one who knew how to fix this. im starting to lose faith in god and everything like that, and im scared i'll never see him ever again cause there may be no god and no heaven and no afterlife. i need some really good advice.

I don’t really know how to start this, especially because it still doesn’t feel real. My coworker passed away last Sunday, and I still can’t accept that it actually happened… She was only 37 years old. She had a small surgery on Saturday, and it went well and she seemed fine, she talked to us and said she was getting out of the hospital on the next day… but she didn’t. She never came back. She had a heart attack due to a blood clot and just died right there. All of this is still very hard to process, especially because I’m still very angry and sad about her passing. She wasn’t just a “coworker”, she was a friend, she was the most important piece there, she held all of us together. She was like a mother to all of us, everything I know she taught me. I can’t believe that she’s gone, I can’t believe that her life was just taken from her. I can’t even wish her to “rest in peace” because she should be here. I don’t know what to do, I just feel miserable and empty. I’ve spent a year and 2 months with her EVERY DAY for 8 hours. We shared the same interests, we had the same sense of humor, we even shared the same love for cats. I can’t look at her desk and see her things just existing there and know she’s not coming back to use them again. I can’t believe this really happened. She was a very loving person, she always had the right thing to say in moments like this. I refuse to accept that life will go on and people will move on and she’s gonna be here, stuck in this moment, stuck in time.

What do you do when you lose the one person that was quite literally made just for you? It's been four and a half years and I'm more lost than ever. The problem is I didn't realize just how perfect she was until she was gone. I just knew she would always be there; it was simply not a concern. She became low priority which wasn't much of an upgrade from the no priority status I had put on her previously. She was young; I was finally hitting my stride. I had started my design-build firm the year before and it became meteoric. Everything was about the business, food, sleep, sex; they were all inconsequential. They didn't matter. I knew we would marry, but that simply wasn't even on my mind. Her whole existence was centered around me. I revolved around the firm, nothing else mattered or interested me. The fact I had leveled up and was now throwing two-three hundred dollars of dope into my arm every day didn't matter. What mattered was making money, and making money I did. It was what it was all about. I put myself through architecture school, spent the next ten years busting ass but I had finally made it, or so I thought. The only time I would give her what she wanted was first thing in the morning on the days I did sleep. I would let her prepare my to-do list for the day. She would sit patiently on the other side of the bathroom door as I got well, but then it was in the shower and I was off. Life as a junkie and a working professional is chaotic, to say the very least. I'll spare the details, but I think you can imagine. She put up with all of that for nearly three years, never once complained, and she loved me more all the same. I literally could do no wrong. When you get older you slowly, and usually painfully, realize all those cliches you heard growing up—they're real. They exist for a reason. For me, its always the same one: "you never know just how good you have it till its gone." Because gone, she is. Even today it's hard for my brain to process that because for so long I never thought that eventuality could become a reality anytime soon. I never would have predicted the stress I caused her, or simply her loneliness, would have led her to get especially drunk one Friday night while I was, of course, at my office. I could have never guessed she would show up at 1 in the morning to where I would have to drive her home. All she wanted was some damn attention. She was a fun drunk, why couldn't I have just driven her home, taken her upstairs where we could make sloppy love. it would have been a hoot. But no, I was too busy worrying about work and having to leave earlier than I had wanted. So I made a show about being upset and I went to do what I do. I never once thought this beautiful girl, who loved me so unconditionally, who fit me so completely, who simply completed me would make such a dumb, drunken decision and do the one thing I think she thought might have gotten my attention. But I had already long since nodded out. I never felt her rummaging through my pockets, I wasn't there to stop her from making the stupidest, and last, decision of her life.

I'm not sure why I just wrote that. I don't really do social media. I was here looking for an answer to a laser engraving issue but after I posited the question, the rest just kind of spilled out. Unfortunately, there's no 'made-for-TV' ending here. It's been almost four and a half years since I lost the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Within three months of losing her, I lost my business, but I didn't even care. Within 6 months, I became a felon. I've been sentenced and sent to jail, twice. I've been to residential treatment four times; relapsing every time, within a matter of days from getting home. The guy who worked damn near every day of his life since first getting a worker's permit at 14, who worked one full-time and one part-time job while attending college full-time; that same guy hasn't worked a day since I lost her, not one day. I've blown through all of my rather extensive savings, given I shot heroin at least four times a day, every single fucking day, since I was 19, and still do today. Ultimately, I may have enough left to pay my mortgage and keep me well at the same time for two, maybe three months. After that, I don't even know. What's worse is I don't even care. I just want my Callie back. Please.

Please feel free to share them :)

My dad died very suddenly 2 weeks ago. even though he lived out of state and we weren't as close as we used to be, he would text every day. It just hit me looking at his picture that I'll never see him again, I'll never hear his voice. I'll never be able to tell him I love him again. I don't know how to cope with this realization. I'm trying to believe in heaven and that I'll see him again but it's really not much comfort with how much I miss him. Idk why I'm even posting this but I have no one to talk to about it and I guess I'm just looking for some comfort in all this.

I lost mom 4 months ago. I thought i was making progress but tonight it 's hitting me hard. I'm crying again. It's going to be a long difficult journey. I miss her so much.

To everyone going through this, I wish you the best.

I lost my oldest child to cancer almost 5 years ago. She was 5 at the time and had a brutal 6 months of hell before passing. I cried so damn hard every single night I wasn't sitting next to her. I cried harder than I thought it was possible for someone to cry.

The years have gone by and I just try and get through them for my family and my other twin girls. They were 3 when she died. Yesterday one of them commented that "daddy never cries for anything". The unfortunate thing is they are right. I basically find it hard to cry for things now I feel like I should be crying for. I had had two friends pass in the last 5 years. I didn't cry at either funeral. I had a pet that I truly loved die as well. I didn't cry for that either. I think I have cried 3-4 times now in the past few years. Every time was when I thought too much about how much I miss her.

At this point I'm worried I could lose someone like a parent and it won't effect me. I probably should have done therapy but have no money for something like that. I honest doubt it would do anything anyway. I have never understood or belived that talking to someone would make a difference. They can't exactly give me my daughter back.

Anyone else have this problem?

I work 12 hour shifts but due to several things I am expected to be on property for approximately 13 hours. If we add commute time I am away from home for over 14 hours per workday. This leaves me with just enough time in the day to eat, shower, get ready for work or for bed, and sleep. I am grieving multiple losses big and small at the moment - some of which I will be grieving for the rest of my life. I often feel the urge to actively grieve like to cry or to journal or something but if it’s on a workday I simply have to shove it down and wait until the weekend. Too busy to deeply feel those emotions. I’ve been to years of therapy but at the end of the day no one can help the fact that I have to be present at work in order to pay the bills. I’m not even here asking for advice because I know there’s nothing I can really do. It just sucks and with the holidays looming it gets SO HARD.

Todays a particularly bad grief day, its been 3 weeks and 4 days since I lost my mum and I cant quite believe this amount of time has passed, nothing feels real. I miss my mum and I wish I could speak to her one last time. Im extremely grateful I was able to hug her the night before her passing. I had been a but distant this year as I was struggling with my mental health towards my mum and I regret it so much, none of that matters now. Mum, I’m sorry and I miss you… 🤍

last month, on the 26th, my baby sister passed away. her passing has sent my depression into overdrive and i think im spiraling. i feel so bad all the time and have been contemplating ending my life. im trying to stay alive for her, but i just want to be with her again. the only way that i can see her again, though, is if i die too. it's so hard living without her and in the house she died in. if anyone has any advice on getting through this grief i would really appreciate it.