Weirded out by my reaction to Steve Jobs death (

baby and crumble

Ok, here's the story. My Mum died just over 2 years ago, from a short but intense battle with cancer (8 months from diagnosis to death) which really has impacted upon me hugely. For a long time my work suffered, all the usual. Have just been starting to be able to think about her without crying and getting depressed, actually starting to be able to remember her with fun and smiles.

But (and this might sound really stupid) the coverage being given to Steve Jobs death has really hit me. Stupidly, I mean I never knew the man! Yeah, I'm a big big apple fan, but it's not even that. It's like, some pics have come out of him recently, before he died, and it's like looking at my Mum (obviously gender aside, but tbh at the latter stages gender kind of takes a backseat due to weight loss). Everyone everywhere is posting up links to that TED speech where he talks about death and living, and it's too much.

Is this normal? I feel like it's the day she told us it was cancer. It's so bizarre.

Odaise Gaelach

I'm sorry about your mum.

I think Steve Jobs' death has just make you think about your mum's again. You've drawn parallels between the two - the weight loss, for example. And if you've experienced a similar tragedy it's normal to hear about something similar and for it to cause you to think about your own tragedy.

You're not grieving for Steve Jobs, you're grieving for your mum again.

Mental Mickey

Odaise Gaelach wrote: »

I'm sorry about your mum.

I think Steve Jobs' death has just make you think about your mum's again. You've drawn parallels between the two - the weight loss, for example. And if you've experienced a similar tragedy it's normal to hear about something similar and for it to cause you to think about your own tragedy.

You're not grieving for Steve Jobs, you're grieving for your mum again.

Same here.

baby and crumble

Thanks guys. I guess it just freaked me out, I mean I've heard of other celebrities and even people closer to me personally since my Mum died- I've attended other funerals. But this seems to have really hit me. Weird.

Oh well, guess little things like this will always happen, eh?

CarMe

Wow I wish I'd seen this a few says ago! I was the exact same about the little Chinese girl Yue Yue, I also posted somewhere around here. I found myself to be completely distraught, crying, thinking about her like I knew her. A bit of a mess really. My mam was diagnosed last October and died in June, just 11 days after I gave birth to her first grandchild. It hit me so hard but because I'm an only child and her and my fas weren't together I had to jump right into organising funeral and with the new baby I feel I didn't grieve properly.

I never heard of grieving about something else but I feel like that poor baby being left there was the helplessness my mam felt because it was only the two of us and nobody seemed to want to help, no home care help, useless doctor, no family etc.
That's just my guess now that I've had a few days to reflect.
I was also more upset about that poor little girl than I have been about other deaths of people I knew personally.

Doogieboogie

When Gerry Ryan died, I was in bits - it was only a few months after my husband had passed away, and the manner of their passing was similar. I wasn't a fan of Gerry Ryan, never listened to his show, but the whole media coverage of his death and funeral tore me up. I identified with his partner and his ex-wife and family and their shock and loss so much.

It's funny, sometimes what I think are going to be difficult occasions turn out to be fine, but the smallest thing can knock me for six and bring me right back into the thick of greiving.

Isolt

It's normal, OP. You suffered a horrible loss and his death reminded you of it. I have felt like an idiot on a number of occasions because I've been so saddened just hearing of someone's death. A girl I used to know and who I met maybe 3 or 4 times died during the year and for some reason it tore me up beyond words. And when Stephen Gately died, even though I'd never even met him, I felt indescribable grief. The idea of them never coming back left me feeling absolutely distraught. A feeling I can't even get when I think of my deceased cousin, my godmother, my three uncles. They all died one after the other so I guess the reaction to these unrelated deaths years later is a type of delayed grief, that was never expressed before. I know it's horrible because it's so unpredictable but you're definitely not alone in this. It has happened to me too and I have not suffered the loss that you did. I hope you are okay