When the ONLY person you want is the one you've lost

Hi everyone,

To keep a long story short: I lost my father to this f*****g disease we call "cancer" about 18 months ago. He was the love of my life. EVERYTHING that means anything is tied up with my dad. And I currently have no will to live without him. For any moderator who may see this, please don't worry about suicide - I do not plan to kill myself. However, I have absolutely zero - and I mean ZERO - interest in anything else in this world, which no longer contains the most important and wonderful thing I've ever known - my father.

I'm writing this post not to get "advice," since that has always been totally useless. I'm writing this to reach out to anybody who feels the same way - do you feel that the only person you want to talk to is the one you've lost? That all other people and all other relationships are second-rate (sounds harsh, but it's how I feel) and largely pointless? Here are things I've tried and found useless:

1) Counselling (4 different counsellors) - utterly useless

2) Talking to friends - utterly useless (they mean well but their empathy skills are extremely poor)

3) Writing about how I feel - not entirely useless but not much good

4) Posting here occasionally - not entirely useless but so far of very limited use

Here are the two things that almost everyone says, both of which are also useless:

1) "Time will help" - maybe it will; maybe it won't. I wouldn't be so sure in my case. Since my father was my entire world, and since I've lost him, I don't see how "time will help." Is time going to bring him back? Obviously not. It is now 18 months since my father died and I do not feel different at all. Not one bit. Every day is exactly the same. I do not expect this to change any time soon. I would not be surprised if I felt like this for years. Hell, I would not be surprised if I feel like this forever. I have never loved anything or anyone in the way I loved my father. I have never been loved by anyone in the way I was loved by my father. Neither of those things is going to change. 

2) "Your father would want you to move on and live your life" - utterly useless advice. My father is no longer here! What he would want if he were here is irrelevant. What's relevant is that I don't have him with me, can't cuddle him, can't hear his laugh, can't feel his warmth, and so on. I don't want to "move on and life my life." I want to be with my b****y dad!

So that brings me back to the title of this post - the ONLY person I want is the one I have lost. The only THING I want (interaction with my father) is the one thing I can never have again. Instead I am supposed to spend the rest of my life on planet earth (which could be decades) without the only thing that ever really meant anything to me (on the deepest level). Everything else feels utterly trivial and pointless.

How are you supposed to live when the ONLY person you want to be with is the one you've lost? If you feel the same, feel free to reply,

Adam

  • Hi Adam

    I received the worst news of my life this week that my mum has lung liver and bone cancer and she's sure in herself she has less than a year

    She's my best friend the love of my life the only person who really understands me and my heart feels so broken it's just numb I'm so scared for what the future holds nothing anyone has said to me has made me feel any better about the situation so I decided the only way to get through this was to look at it in a spiritual way

    Although they won't be physically present in this world anymore we WILL be with them again in another 'life' and with the other loved ones we have lost in this one, we're never going to be without them so please don't listen to skeptics or ignorant people who don't believe we host a soul. We are so much more than this, what I call, flesh prison

    I'm 28 and won't even get to have the milestone 30th birthday with my mum there's just nothing anyone can say, spirituality is the only comfort

    x

  • Hi Mysticx,

    I'm so sorry to hear about your mum. I remember vividly the day when my father called me to say that his cancer had spread to his brain. So I think I have some understanding of how awful it must have felt and must feel for you.

    It doesn't surprise me that nothing anyone has said has made you feel any better. The more I think about it, the more I think that there is nothing anybody can say to make it better, at least not for me. However, some people on here have found other people's posts/words to be helpful, so perhaps you fall into that category.

    I'm very glad that you're finding some comfort in spirtuality. You may not want any "advice" from me, or anybody else, but if I could have the final year of my father's life back again I would have spent every moment of it with him, or at least much more time than I did. So part of me would urge you to spend as much time with your mother as you can, talk to her about everything, share everything, ask all the questions you want answers to, tell her how much you adore her, tell what she means to you, don't hold back. Then again, part of me knows that everyone's situation is different and tells me that I should just shut up and let people find their own solutions.

    What I can say is that I am deeply sorry. I wish you could have your 30th birthday with your mum. And your 35th. And your 40th. The universe doesn't give us what we want, sadly. But it's obviously given you (and your mum) a wonderful relationship, which of course makes the inevitable loss so painful.

    Wishing you continued strength

    A

  • Thanks for your kind words

    I think the only way I'm staying strong is knowing I'll have to care for her :( 

    Do you feel any better as this time has passed since losing your dad? Or how long did it take for you to at least wake up and not feel utter sadness?

  • I had a similar reaction - I held it together for the last 8 months (from diagnosis of the brain metastases to his death) because I had to, for his sake. He needed me to be strong, so I was. When he died, all hell broke loose inside me. Actually, I had my first breakdown just before he died.

    I wish I could say that things (have) got better since my father died. They haven't. I feel empty, every  day, and don't see much point in anything. If ever I think about the absence of my father for too long, I am overwhelmed by depression, misery, horror, and so on.

    But that doesn't mean it will be the same for you. There are plenty of people on here (whose posts you can read) who have found (and are continuing to find) a way to manage. I was told by my counsellor that the way you spend the last few months (with the person who is dying) has a big influence on how you feel afterwards. I feel regrets that I didn't spend more time with my father. But I know that others spend/spent even less time with their dying loved ones and therefore may feel even more regret. It may be easier (or rather less awful) for you if you do everything you can now to make the time you have as good as it can be. My father and I shared a love of music (the same types of music, too), so we listened to music together, at least until his brain was so badly fried that he couldn't any more. I'm sure you and your mother have special ways of connecting, unique to you. They may help you to manage.

    Caring for your mother/father in the last phase of your life doesn't have to be all bad. My father continued to inspire me until his last breath. He still does. He always will. Cuddling him in his bed was the greatest joy I have ever had. Making him feel loved was my goal and I hope I achieved it. I'm sure you'll find that your love for each other helps you to manage in some ways.

    A

  • The only solution i want is my husband back too! If only we could reverse time a bit! I think it's too close to home for my Mum to feel my pain, Dad also has cancer (prostrate) and I only found out a few weeks ago his cancer is also terminal and he now has 1-3 years left, i think they kept it from me as i was already coping with so much, but now i have that to contend with too... life just seems too hard sometimes. And you're right that we can only cope with so much, you are dealing with a huge loss yourself and can't take on your Mum's too. I have found better affinity with strangers who have come into my life thru this, eg at cancer support group. Several of us have now lost partners, some are 'ok' but living on a knifes edge, we meet up regularly and they all knew Tom, it's nice to be among a group of people living it too. Several in the group have gone now, we talk about them and its just a comfortable place to be..it's two years since my husband's diagnosis when we first went to the group, we have all left the 'official' group now as circumstances have changed, but meet independently to support each other and it's a relief to be around them that know...most people feel uncomfortable talking about the person you've lost, they don't realise it's what we want to do! So it's good to find others who are suffering too and not afraid to say their name!

  • I suppose I have always been a spiritual person and honestly the word soulmate wouldn't exist if there wasn't such thing as a soul

    Yes once the person has left this physical life they're gone but they are always with you and you will meet again

    If there wasn't so many near death experience stories and evidence of this honestly I feel like I could snap and end up sectioned

    Consider this life we are living as a trial run, and the next life as pure peace and happiness with the ones who we truly love

    Life is just so strange complicated and sad and being able to speak to people like this just takes the edge off the madness

  • Despite your grief and the awful loss, you seem to have a really positive energy. I feel optimistic about your chances of finding a way through this ***.

  • Either that or my brain is being delusional in coping about how I'm eventually going to deal with losing her I just don't even know

  • Sorry that was in response to someone else but thank god for cancer groups ect any support is positive!

  • Thank you, [@Newlife101]‍ this made me cry happy tears.

    Honestly, it's been speaking to people on this forum that has made me feel more positive. I desperately don't want to feel this sad or angry or bitter forever because I know my Mum wouldn't want that.

    I may not be positive every minute of every day but I'm really trying to find and spread some positivity where I can.

    x