Chapter 2: What may be different about your grief
Your couple identity
When my husband died, I asked, “Who am I?” My immediate sensation was that I felt like half a person. It was overwhelming.
We’d been together since we were teenagers. We did everything together – all of the ups and downs of life. I’ve had to learn to do things on my own since she died.
You and your spouse probably developed your own “couple personality” of sorts. You and others may have thought of yourselves as a couple who shared various preferences, lifestyles, values, and experiences. Click on the arrows below for some examples.
You may have loved hosting people or perhaps spent quiet evenings together at home.
You may have placed high value on family and/or working hard.
Perhaps you were very private.
You may have liked to laugh and have fun.
You may have enjoyed travelling or taking walks together.
Over time, as your bonds deepened, your sense of “we” likely became a part of who you understood yourself to be.
