Autistic girl dead at 23...

[Storm Hess]

In our neighborhood, we have an Autistic family that lives down the street. I just spoke to the mother and she told me that her daughter died of a heart attack at 23 years of age. She was Autistic...she was fun to be around and loved to talk about her day. I am sad...my family and I had played football with her, talked and laughed together. She will be missed.

How do you cope with loss? I am having a very difficult time holding myself together at the moment.

 

[Crossbreed]

How do you cope with loss? I am having a very difficult time holding myself together at the moment.

For me, I had to just let grief wash over me and play out.
I don't think there are any shortcuts.

(Just avoid making any life-changing decisions until you come out of the other side.)

 

[Gerontius]

Loss is a tough one.

Allow yourself to grieve.

Pray if you're religious. Or if you're not; I don't care. It helps. Sometimes it's helpful (in my experience) to be able to thank someone for having created a Decent Human Being like your friend.

There's the other barrage of weird things that comes after loss--again, allow yourself time to grieve, to heal, to recover. Don't tell yourself you're evil if you become friends with someone else; that's OK. Don't hate yourself, either, if it takes you a long time to make new friends. Consider these new friends as having big shoes to fill.

She sounds like a good friend to have! Congratulations to you for having known a good person. And don't speedrun grief; it is as natural as joy or any of the other things in life. It is something that we all must face up to eventually--just like death; comes for all of us at one point or other.

 

[Streetwise]

In our neighborhood, we have an Autistic family that lives down the street. I just spoke to the mother and she told me that her daughter died of a heart attack at 23 years of age. She was Autistic...she was fun to be around and loved to talk about her day. I am sad...my family and I had played football with her, talked and laughed together. She will be missed.

How do you cope with loss? I am having a very difficult time holding myself together at the moment.

I suffer, I panic default position, I spend time with non humans.

 

[Forest Cat]

That`s terrible. I don`t think I cope with loss. I would describe it as a complete shutdown. Everything in my life is put on hold. I wake up in the morning, walk around in a haze all day and go to bed in the evening. When my dad died I spent 6 months in a black hole. It was very sudden and unexpected. I have very few memories from those months and I usually have a good memory.

So I`m not great at coping with it, I have to wait until the worst of it has calmed down a little bit and that can take weeks or months. Good luck with everything.

 

[Suzette]

@Gerontius is right, you can't short cut grief. Don't feel guilty if you enjoy life though. Your friend would not want you to stop living because she did. Instead do things your friend would have enjoyed in her honor. Remember her as you go about your day and let those memories make you smile.

 

[NB79]

oh so young for a fatal heart attack, i'm so sorry for your loss...

 

[Owliet]

In our neighborhood, we have an Autistic family that lives down the street. I just spoke to the mother and she told me that her daughter died of a heart attack at 23 years of age. She was Autistic...she was fun to be around and loved to talk about her day. I am sad...my family and I had played football with her, talked and laughed together. She will be missed.

How do you cope with loss? I am having a very difficult time holding myself together at the moment.

I’m very sorry that this has been a surprise for you.

I don’t really handle grief well. But it’s important to allow yourself time to grief the way that you want. My grandmother died earlier this year, and I didn’t grieve for her. Before Christmas, I discovered that someone I knew from university and who was also an Aspie died, the university sends out obituary notices alongside alumni stuff and that was sad. I felt a lot of regret but I remember her with a smile because even if it was only passing, she was still a nice person. And it’s ok to be sad. Take the time to grieve for her loss. Some people are religious and pray, if you’re not like this light a candle in remembrance.

 

[Aspychata]

So sorry to hear that this life loving young lady has left us. My condolences to you and her family.

 

[Magna]

This is very sad and I'm sorry for your loss and your grief. It seems like this is happening more often (ie young people dying of heart attacks). We're hearing about more now when young people (teens and twenties) are dropping dead while playing sports. It's said for sure.

 

[Storm Hess]

Thank you for all of the replies...I hate this. Her mom could barely hold it together...this is really tough for her family...that's what hits me the most. She was a ball of energy and was always excited to share her day.

 

[Streetwise]

Thank you for all of the replies...I hate this. Her mom could barely hold it together...this is really tough for her family...that's what hits me the most. She was a ball of energy and was always excited to share her day.

Death comes like a thief in the night

 

[Streetwise]

While you're feeling the impact of death remember all the creatures that die every minute hour day all over the world