Yup. It's hard. Suddenly you're thinking about things that don't make sense to anyone else, at least timing-wise, and your attempts to let people know what's going on seem inappropriate, even to yourself. And it never seems like a dream set it off, but one probably did.

It's good, a good thing, to think about them. Whether it helps you or not, it's good. As well as bad. No way I'm explaining that one at work, under the fluorescent light.

I think that a person can only process so much of wrenching grief like that at a time. Your mind knows when you can handle it, and apparently for you, that was last night.

I don't know what to tell you about how to deal with it, other than to take it one day at a time... and know that it will get easier.

I also have had moments of sudden memories that made me grieve all over again. Little things can remind me of loved ones long gone, and suddenly set me off. I don't know why. I've always thought it's because I can be extremely sensitive at times. Maybe you dreamed about the person you cared about, but subliminaly you knew the person was gone, so upon waking the grief was all raw and open again. This may sound silly, but years after my favorite dog died, I had a dream that he came to visit me. I screamed because I "knew" he was dead, and when he jumped in my arms I could actually feel him. I started sobbing because I knew this visit would be short and he'd leave me again. I woke sobbing and heartbroken and even though this was seven years ago that I had this dream/visit I am tearing up as I write this. If you can't tell, I do believe in an afterlife. I look forward to seeing all of my loved ones again, someday, human and animal. Maybe somehow, your loved one was close to you, and you felt them. So perhaps you can take comfort that they are still there, looking over you.

This happens to me too. From what I know about grief, it's normal. It never goes away, it just starts taking up less and less space in my emotional life. Sometimes it swells and I have to deal with it, even after a long time. Thanks for talking about it here.

It's been a little over 30 years since my mom died. It still pops up at times. No advice. Just live it as it comes.

Grief is weird, indeed. Since I learned (the hard way) to "compartmentalize" in order to cope with things better and more privately, I get these bouts of unexpected sorrow surging more vividly although still not often. So I guess it has to do a little with remaining lack of resolution or full closure.

Arse_hat said it perfectly, you live it as it comes. My father has been gone for over a decade, taken from us too soon. The grief is sporadic, but sometimes hits just as hard as if he died last week. What I have gained now over the years is perspective.