Coping with Father Loss in Early Childhood

It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was. ~ Anne Sexton

A reader writes: I'm 35 years old and was nine years old when I lost my father. I live my life in a perpetual state of loss, it seems. I'm able to find a lot of joy, but it's always shadowed by an inevitable sense of sadness and loneliness. Sometimes, like right now, it just hurts and I don't know what to do with it. I've had years of therapy, with various therapists; I've been in 12-step programs; read numerous books on the subject, but I still live with this deep sense of loss. I guess I just want to know -- WILL IT EVER GO AWAY??

Understanding and Managing Grief, February 16 - February 22, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Sometimes You’re Sad ~ It's Only Natural, http://j.mp/1jo9AG7 « Einstein's Gifts

Yes! Everyone Grieves Differently, http://j.mp/MNNuBq « Alive in Memory

Grief Frenemies: How "sometimes a friend/ sometimes and enemy" applies to grief, http://j.mp/1cB1isD « TewksburyPatch

Residual Grief: Father Loss in Early Childhood

Find the updated version of this post here:

Coping with Father Loss in Early Childhood

A reader writes: I'm 35 years old and was nine years old when I lost my father. I live my life in a perpetual state of loss, it seems. I'm able to find a lot of joy, but it's always shadowed by an inevitable sense of sadness and loneliness. Sometimes, like right now, it just hurts and I don't know what to do with it. I've had years of therapy, with various therapists; I've been in 12-step programs; read numerous books on the subject, but I still live with this deep sense of loss. I guess I just want to know -- WILL IT EVER GO AWAY??