It’s almost as if every one has their own experiences and feelings and ways of dealing with things.
Reading this thread there’s a ton on your side, and there’s a ton in the other side.
For me - the dog is going to hit me much harder than anything else. However, I’m still not sure how hard.
I’m 34, about to turn 35. When I was 23 I watched a good friend drown in very tough water while camping.
A year later, a close friend died in a car accident.
Fast forward 6 years. A friend who witnessed the drowning with us suffered severe PTSD from it. He took his own life.
Each one of these hurt insanely bad; left absolute miserable thoughts and tough times to me. But.. from them all I got used to being around death. A year after the suicide, my best friends wife succumbed to cancer. And… unlike the others…. It didn’t hit me nearly as hard. It was almost as if it was just a “here’s another one” (I felt very guilty for that).
My point is- everyone has their own connections and past that will affect how they handle grief.
My dog is my favorite part of my life; I have never loved anything more. I believe it’s going to hurt me more than anything else. But I also believe that with my other experiences, while hurting more, I’ll hopefully mentally handle myself better.
But I don’t know.. and I hopefully won’t know for a while still.
ShamrockAPD t1_j8dgk38 wrote
Reply to comment by lappel-do-vide in Cultivating a sense of perspective about pet loss can lead to post-traumatic growth after their death by chrisdh79
It’s almost as if every one has their own experiences and feelings and ways of dealing with things.
Reading this thread there’s a ton on your side, and there’s a ton in the other side.
For me - the dog is going to hit me much harder than anything else. However, I’m still not sure how hard.
I’m 34, about to turn 35. When I was 23 I watched a good friend drown in very tough water while camping.
A year later, a close friend died in a car accident.
Fast forward 6 years. A friend who witnessed the drowning with us suffered severe PTSD from it. He took his own life.
Each one of these hurt insanely bad; left absolute miserable thoughts and tough times to me. But.. from them all I got used to being around death. A year after the suicide, my best friends wife succumbed to cancer. And… unlike the others…. It didn’t hit me nearly as hard. It was almost as if it was just a “here’s another one” (I felt very guilty for that).
My point is- everyone has their own connections and past that will affect how they handle grief.
My dog is my favorite part of my life; I have never loved anything more. I believe it’s going to hurt me more than anything else. But I also believe that with my other experiences, while hurting more, I’ll hopefully mentally handle myself better.
But I don’t know.. and I hopefully won’t know for a while still.