Chapter 2: Factors that may affect your grief
Your relationship with your co-worker
We were friends outside of work. He was married with two children, but he was very thoughtful and caring toward me and would invite me to family gatherings during the holidays so that I wouldn’t be on my own.
I didn’t really know her, but other co-workers were really close to her. I did my best to support them as I could see they were hurting.
Your unique relationship
How you are impacted by the death of a co-worker depends very much on the relationship you had with them and on the role(s) they had in your workplace. You may experience various losses, some of which may not be obvious right away. For example:
You will be grieving the loss of their companionship and support.
You may be grieving the loss of someone who shared your interests and concerns.
You may still grieve their absence, having become accustomed to being with them all day.
You may be missing someone you trusted and worrying about who will replace them.
You may wonder who will now take on this task or how they might be different.
You may notice these building up.
You may grieve the loss of a workplace advocate.
