Stages of grief

[Ken H]

I've read about the stages of grief and have noticed being I lost my Mom at the end of September, the acceptance part of the stage is one of the hardest as memories play over and over again like a jukebox.  As I've "entered" this most difficult stage I have my moments of great sadness and sometimes it hits me as if someone socked me in the stomach taking the breath out of me that Mom is gone.  Almost as if my mind is trying to slowly get me to remember things to help sort things out and to accept the pain that she's gone.  It's nothing less than devastating at times and I have unfortunately no family support as no one was close with her.  Seems after she reached a certain age they "forgot" all she had done for them and moved on with their lives and even her death brought little grief to them that I know of.  I've accepted that they are who they are and my life needs to go on.  My question is I noticed that in the past couple of weeks as I have been doing some deep thinking at times in remembering her and accepting this loss I have been totally exhausted by the days end where I sleep a 8 hour period without even waking up which is not normal for me.  Nice I must say but is this the bodies way of healing the mind or is this probably due to the exhaustion of what has transpired in the past couple months since her death in dealing with not only her death but finalization of her finances.  In a previous post I didn't mention but I worked at the independent facility where she was living as an Activity Director assistant and have kept my employment there as I love my job and the people but there are so many daily memories as I go about my work day there.

[Monty]

Ken H, 

I am sorry you are going through this. Grief is an exhausting journey especially emotionally. It is normal to feel exhausted and drained. Sleep is important so it is great that you are getting some good nights rest. Despite my own exhaustion, I am finding sleep a challenge. 
It must be difficult to be reminded of your Mum every time you go to work as well. 

Be kind to yourself Ken. 

[reader]

Dear Ken,

 Please don’t be hard on yourself. It’s devastating losing the most important person in our life. I find the first year of grief the hardest. Like Monty said it’s important to be kind to yourself during this sad and difficult time. It’s OK to sleep a little more when we need to. 

Take care of yourself and keep doing the best you can every day

[BEQUET93]

The loss of a parent is stressful and prolonged stress can be hard on us, both physically and mentally. It could be that your extra sleep is just your body needing that time to repair itself. Everyone experiences grief and some respond by sleeping more, others less. Like Monty, I am mostly finding sleep elusive, but have had a few days of logging more than 12 hours. Your workplace provides many triggers to memory, but the important thing is that you love your job and the people there. You mother would want you to do what you enjoy.