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Is re-grieving a thing?


Caclark40

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Posted

I lost my fiance in 2004. I was only 23. I did a lot of therapy and with time, moved on. I met, married and had a son with an ok guy but after being together for 7 years, I realized it wasn't working and we've divorced. I'm 100% over my ex but I have found myself thinking almost constantly of my fiance since the divorce. To be honest, he was the best friend I ever had even though I know with every fiber of my being it never would have ended happily for us. 

I met a really nice guy online and he's asked me out. I've accepted but I feel like I'm not as excited as I should be. I'm starting to feel like I'm re-grieving my fiance all over again. My friends are amazingly supportive but they struggle with what to say, especially as it's been so long since he died.

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Posted

Thanks for sharing your experience

I'm afraid that we will never forget our life with our soulmate, even if we meet another nice  guy:sad:

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Posted
5 hours ago, Caclark40 said:

I lost my fiance in 2004. I was only 23. I did a lot of therapy and with time, moved on. I met, married and had a son with an ok guy but after being together for 7 years, I realized it wasn't working and we've divorced. I'm 100% over my ex but I have found myself thinking almost constantly of my fiance since the divorce. To be honest, he was the best friend I ever had even though I know with every fiber of my being it never would have ended happily for us. 

I met a really nice guy online and he's asked me out. I've accepted but I feel like I'm not as excited as I should be. I'm starting to feel like I'm re-grieving my fiance all over again. My friends are amazingly supportive but they struggle with what to say, especially as it's been so long since he died.

It could be that the possibility of finding someone again has triggered you back to the beginning in grieving.  I do hope you will get some counseling from a qualified professional that can help you work through it.  I am sorry for all you have been through.

I've been studying grief for almost 16 years, and this is what I've learned from counseling, grievers postings, articles, and just my experience with it...

I want to share an article I wrote of the things I've found helpful over the years, in the hopes something will be of help to you either now or on down the road.

TIPS TO MAKE YOUR WAY THROUGH GRIEF

There's no way to sum up how to go on in a simple easy answer, but I encourage you to read the other threads here, little by little you will learn how to make your way through this.  I do want to give you some pointers though, of some things I've learned on my journey.

  • Take one day at a time.  The Bible says each day has enough trouble of it's own, I've found that to be true, so don't bite off more than you can chew.  It can be challenging enough just to tackle today.  I tell myself, I only have to get through today.  Then I get up tomorrow and do it all over again.  To think about the "rest of my life" invites anxiety.
  • Don't be afraid, grief may not end but it evolves.  The intensity lessens eventually.
  • Visit your doctor.  Tell them about your loss, any troubles sleeping, suicidal thoughts, anxiety attacks.  They need to know these things in order to help you through it...this is all part of grief.
  • Suicidal thoughts are common in early grief.  If they're reoccurring, call a suicide hotline.  I felt that way early on, but then realized it wasn't that I wanted to die so much as I didn't want to go through what I'd have to face if I lived.  Back to taking a day at a time.  Suicide Hotline - Call 1-800-273-8255 or www.crisis textline.org or US and Canada: text 741741 UK: text 85258 | Ireland: text 50808
  • Give yourself permission to smile.  It is not our grief that binds us to them, but our love, and that continues still.
  • Try not to isolate too much.  
  • There's a balance to reach between taking time to process our grief, and avoiding it...it's good to find that balance for yourself.  We can't keep so busy as to avoid our grief, it has a way of haunting us, finding us, and demanding we pay attention to it!  Some people set aside time every day to grieve.  I didn't have to, it searched and found me!
  • Self-care is extremely important, more so than ever.  That person that would have cared for you is gone, now you're it...learn to be your own best friend, your own advocate, practice self-care.  You'll need it more than ever.
  • Recognize that your doctor isn't trained in grief, find a professional grief counselor that is.  We need help finding ourselves through this maze of grief, knowing where to start, etc.  They have not only the knowledge, but the resources.
  • In time, consider a grief support group.  If your friends have not been through it themselves, they may not understand what you're going through, it helps to find someone somewhere who DOES "get it". 
  • Be patient, give yourself time.  There's no hurry or timetable about cleaning out belongings, etc.  They can wait, you can take a year, ten years, or never deal with it.  It's okay, it's what YOU are comfortable with that matters.  
  • Know that what we are comfortable with may change from time to time.  That first couple of years I put his pictures up, took them down, up, down, depending on whether it made me feel better or worse.  Finally, they were up to stay.
  • Consider a pet.  Not everyone is a pet fan, but I've found that my dog helps immensely.  It's someone to love, someone to come home to, someone happy to see me, someone that gives me a purpose...I have to come home and feed him.  Besides, they're known to relieve stress.  Well maybe not in the puppy stage when they're chewing up everything, but there's older ones to adopt if you don't relish that stage.
  • Make yourself get out now and then.  You may not feel interest in anything, things that interested you before seem to feel flat now.  That's normal.  Push yourself out of your comfort zone just a wee bit now and then.  Eating out alone, going to a movie alone or church alone, all of these things are hard to do at first.  You may feel you flunked at it, cried throughout, that's okay, you did it, you tried, and eventually you get a little better at it.  If I waited until I had someone to do things with I'd be stuck at home a lot.
  • Keep coming here.  We've been through it and we're all going through this together.
  • Look for joy in every day.  It will be hard to find at first, but in practicing this, it will change your focus so you can embrace what IS rather than merely focusing on what ISN'T.  It teaches you to live in the present and appreciate fully.  You have lost your big joy in life, and all other small joys may seem insignificant in comparison, but rather than compare what used to be to what is, learn the ability to appreciate each and every small thing that comes your way...a rainbow, a phone call from a friend, unexpected money, a stranger smiling at you, whatever the small joy, embrace it.  It's an art that takes practice and is life changing if you continue it.
  • Eventually consider volunteering.  It helps us when we're outward focused, it's a win/win.

(((hugs))) Praying for you today.

  • Moderators
Posted
19 hours ago, Caclark40 said:

I lost my fiance in 2004. I was only 23. I did a lot of therapy and with time, moved on. I met, married and had a son with an ok guy but after being together for 7 years, I realized it wasn't working and we've divorced. I'm 100% over my ex but I have found myself thinking almost constantly of my fiance since the divorce. To be honest, he was the best friend I ever had even though I know with every fiber of my being it never would have ended happily for us. 

I met a really nice guy online and he's asked me out. I've accepted but I feel like I'm not as excited as I should be. I'm starting to feel like I'm re-grieving my fiance all over again. My friends are amazingly supportive but they struggle with what to say, especially as it's been so long since he died.

I'm not sure I follow. You said " he was the best friend I ever had even though I know with every fiber of my being it never would have ended happily for us."  ? 

Being alone and having lost him, it's natural to think about your fiance. But just maybe your "re-grief" is the classic grass is greener on the other side thing, which is an extremely common human nature feeling: we tend to want what we can't have and disregard what we can. 

Bottom line: certainly nothing wrong with missing him or grieving him, just make sure it isn't something you're latching onto, possibly even letting dominate your life, because you fear the future. Taking a step into a possible new relationship can be scary, especially after having been out of that game for so long, like jumping into the deep end of the pool, but don't let that fear control your life. 

Sorry if any of this comes out wrong, just my two cents (and from someone who might need to take his own advice!). 

 

 

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Posted

Didn't come out wrong at all! As for the confusing part, I've realized as I've grown older that yes, I loved him dearly and would have married him. However we would have almost certainly divorced each other within 5 years. Just because we love someone doesn't mean it's meant to be forever or that we're meant to be in a committed relationship with each other.

I think I'll almost always have the "what could have been" thoughts when it came from him. My therapist said that it would probably take me longer to move past this than most widowers because of the fact that I have so many what would it have been like unknowns. 

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