Graduation Season & Grief: Absent people make these milestones hard to bear

Graduation season is tough on grieving people. We’re thinking of all the people for whom this period of achievement and should-be celebration brings additional pain.

Absent people make these milestones hard to bear:

People who should be graduating with their peers.

People who should be watching their children, relatives, friends, or partners graduating.

People who should be watching you graduate.

So many layers and variations of all those heartbreaking losses.

Here’s the thing many people don’t realize – loss isn’t a one time event. When someone dies, you don’t just lose them in that moment, you lose them in all the years and moments that were to come.

Those people you’re missing will miss out on so many important times. Pride and sadness mix together in times like these, and that’s perfectly normal. Crappy. And normal.

How about you? How does graduation season affect you? What does it mean to you this year? Sharing your experiences and your stories helps others know they aren’t alone in this.