Don't get me started on Victorian Mourning customs - mostly they were a middle-class way of showing off that they could afford all new clothes when someone died, and it got really stupid for a while.
If compartmentalizing is how you deal then that's fine - you realize what you're doing and you know that eventually it's going to hit you. That's not at all the same as "It's been two weeks, so I'm fine" and ignoring it if you aren't.
Grief for a pet is also listed under the heading of 'Disenfranchised Grief' - because you don't get sympathy cards when your cat dies. Part of the reason that so many of my online rabbit groups are so close is that people stay with us because they hear 'But it's only a rabbit - just get another one' a few too many times. You need to grieve, and possibly adopt again but in no way is that a 'replacement' - plus rabbits are like potato chips :)
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branchandroot
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Date: 2011-01-26 08:09 pm (UTC)If compartmentalizing is how you deal then that's fine - you realize what you're doing and you know that eventually it's going to hit you. That's not at all the same as "It's been two weeks, so I'm fine" and ignoring it if you aren't.
Grief for a pet is also listed under the heading of 'Disenfranchised Grief' - because you don't get sympathy cards when your cat dies. Part of the reason that so many of my online rabbit groups are so close is that people stay with us because they hear 'But it's only a rabbit - just get another one' a few too many times. You need to grieve, and possibly adopt again but in no way is that a 'replacement' - plus rabbits are like potato chips :)