Have you ever heard of "continuing bonds"? In summary it goes like this - when your loved one dies grief isn't about working through a linear process that ends with 'acceptance' or a 'new life', where you have moved on or compartmentalized your loved one's memory.
Rather, when a loved one dies you slowly find ways to adjust and redefine your relationship with that person, allowing for a continued bond with that person that will endure, in different ways and to varying degrees, throughout your life. This relationship is not unhealthy, nor does it mean you are not grieving in a normal way.
Instead, the continuing bonds theory suggests that this is not only normal and healthy, but that an important part of grief is continuing ties to loved ones in this way. Rather than assuming detachment as a normal grief response, continuing bonds considers natural human attachment even in death.
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