"I wrote recently about how the change of season affects my grief, but I'm coming to understand that I also have entered a new season of life. The loss of a longtime partner can feel like the world has been set spinning at warp speed, like the changes that might have happened slowly, one falling leaf at a time, have instead happened suddenly, like a blue norther blowing in overnight."
"And many of my peers have retired, moved away, or died. All the moving and shaking has been passed on to the next generation. I may know who those people are, but I don't know them personally, and they don't know me. Even newspapers don't matter anymore. My past career is a file cabinet full of yellowing, crumbling clips. I'm not retired yet, but I'm no longer making noise, just a little money."
Change of season affects grief, and life can enter a new season after the loss of a longtime partner. The loss of a partner can accelerate changes that age might have produced gradually, making transformations feel sudden and destabilizing. Professional identity often fades with time as industries and peers move on, and past career achievements can become artifacts rather than current currency. Many peers retire, relocate, or die, passing influence to a new generation. Even without formal retirement, public recognition and professional prominence can wane. Bereavement also removes aspects of a shared spousal identity.
Read at Psychology Today
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