• Just this year, at 26, I experienced the death of a grandparent for the first time. • At first, I couldn't believe she was gone, and I was surprised by how much it affected me. • Her funeral was one of the hardest days of my life, but it felt like the start of closure.

It's only this year, at the age of 26, that I've had a grandparent — my maternal grandmother — die.

It wasn't unexpected. My grandmother, who I call my nan, lived with dementia for almost a decade, with her decline clear to see. Because I did a lot of my grieving while she was still here and she hadn't been the person she used to be for a long time, I wasn't sure how much her death would affect me. Would I even feel relieved, knowing she'd no longer be suffering?

I knew things were coming to an end in May, and I wen

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