I looked up the word "grief", because that did feel a little melodramatic to refer to such a happy event in this way. "Deep mental anguish" does seem a bit much.
But I do think it's a very momentous life change, and I think it may be a bit unsettling to discover that despite your preparations, you still have such a strong, visceral feeling of loss.
Men who retire after years at one company go through very severe withdrawal, feelings of uselessness, a loss of identity. I can even remember actors closing a long run sobbing after the final curtain-- (I did on occasion). It's a natural reaction to good things ending.
For me, a stay-at-home mom, I'm seeing 20 years of a job done full-time essentially over, at least in the sense of that daily hands-on care. It was a job I loved, and one I took pride in, and that leaves an emptiness. I'm not sure there's anything I can do that will measure up in terms of feeling essential or productive the way parenting did. So in that sense, I do grieve. But hopefully not for long.
If CH were still here next week lamenting and self-pitying, I would agree it had gone into maudlin, and well, the whole deal may have bordered on a certain sentimentality, something you and I are not very fond of when it comes to reality, but what the hell. We all deal with things differently.
A new word- I just made up. Eugrief. Like eustress. A positive, good kind of grief. And short-lived. But nonetheless, painful when it happens. |
