grief over S has been a big part of my therapy in the past.

It was helpful to be allowed to come in in whatever phase of grief I was in that day and to talk about it. Sometimes, I railed against S. Sometimes, I cried and said how much I loved him. Sometimes, I proclaimed myself entirely over it.

It was helpful for my grief to be seen. It was helpful to have it validated and not brushed aside.

I still grieve S, and I still occasionally have a session where I talk about him. I did recently, actually. It pops back up frequently whenever something is happening in my life that I would've gone to him with.