live4hope

I agree. Loss is loss. However, death is completely final. I think there can be "living deaths" -- like divorce or estrangement from friends or family, but nothing is as final as physical death. In living losses, we can still hold on to the hope, whether we admit to ourselves or not, that maybe one day, all will be healed. But we cannot raise the dead. In some ways, grieving over physical death may even be easier than coping with a living death. I like to believe that the dead in my family are in a much better place. That the misunderstandings we had are now healed. That the pain they experienced is now over. I also know that they can't come back to hurt me. In this way, I close a chapter which allows for a new chapter to be unfolded in my life. A living death, like a divorce, may not have these advantages (if you can call them that). I know people that experience ongoing grief for decades because of unresolved issues with another living person. All that being said, loss is still loss. There are behaviours and feelings that are common to all, some may just differ in intensity. Everyone needs care and love during any kind of grief process and for any reason -- at least, that is how I think about this topic.