Antonia, I agree with what you have said - a good post that really 'spoke' to me.
I agree that there is a failure 'out there' to understand what it is like to have been dealt this sort of blow, and I also think that most of the people who post here are reluctant to express the level of their hurt because we do not want to appear as 'victims'
And yes, a good part of the wanting a relationship is not simply to try and replace what we had, and [understandably] want back in our emotional lives, but also, as you say, it would also signify that we were OK again. And we aren't really. We are all getting there, but emotional healing takes a very long time.
Your post really helped me, because I often feel rather feeble for not being OK by now.
