Grieving the loss of a spouse or life partner is confusing, overwhelming and disorienting. Whether their death was sudden or happened after a long illness, the person you were meant to spend your life with is gone and nothing can prepare you for the emptiness and loneliness you feel. The person who was by your side every day is suddenly gone along with all the dreams and hopes for your future together.

When the room is quiet, grief can feel even louder.

After our spouse or life partner dies, the silence that follows can be deafening. The home we shared falls quiet, and loneliness sets in. So when friends, colleagues, and even close family members don’t acknowledge our loss, it can feel very isolating.

When someone stays quiet after a loss it is often because they don’t know what to say. It is not because they don’t care or that they have forgotten. They are often times just scared to say the wrong thing.
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I’ve heard it many times from the grieving people I coach, and I’ve experienced it myself: when no one says anything, the pain feels even more difficult.