There is a lot of judgment surrounding how people deal with loss. You’re either too sad or not sad enough. I hate the idea that you can only take a week off work after losing someone extremely close to you. As a society, we really need to bring back formal morning periods, where women wear black for a whole year, to signal to everyone that she’s going through something right now. A lady should be able to cry about her mom passing in the frozen food aisle of Gristedes without a bunch of nosy Nellies asking her, «Why?»

Displays of pure, vulnerable emotions regarding loss are socially punished if they persist for what society deems as «too long.» You will never stop missing your parent, child, or friend, and the fact that those losses are supposed to be put aside to facilitate the comfort of others is just plain wrong.