With the loss of my parents, that whole strata – the unique relationship (good and bad) – has gone and with it a perspective on my life that no one else has, had or can have, has gone.
All relationships offer some insight into our lives, into who we are. Some can be duplicated to an extent – colleagues and friends, even closer relationships like siblings, spouses or offspring – but once they are gone they cannot be replaced and, as a person, one loses something of oneself in the death of that relationship.
Is that what we are mourning?