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Comment by M Adams on March 3, 2019 at 5:02pm

It’s not terrible at all — it’s natural and right.  As it happens I was reading something today that mentioned in passing the “classical period of mourning” as being seven years.  Everyone grieves differently, of course, but that timeline seems to reflect my experience so far.  Was just looking around online and saw a discussion of Eastern Orthodox tradition, which I’ll paste below, as it provides a contemporary example of bereavement being recognized for, as the article puts it, “at least seven years.”

Eastern Orthodox

The mourning period for Eastern Orthodox Christians lasts for forty days. Within those forty days, the third day, the ninth day, and the fortieth day all have special significance. After forty days, memorials are celebrated at three months, six months, nine months, one year, and on the anniversary of the death for at least seven years.