About this: Then she pushes my arm away, says I can't touch her. She'd started to cry. Says something like "I like it, but I feel too close to you, so I can't get close to you or I'll cry all day." my take is this or at least this is why I would and have, responded in that way. I can do fine in a deeply sad and painful situation if I can just focus on what needs to be done. But when people want to hug or be nice, I lose it and then my focus is lost. I've even told people, "Just don't be nice to me right now."
This is not a long term solution to experiencing grief but sometimes there are hours or events I needed to get through, then later when I felt safe, I could let the tears come.
Thank you, that's a good description of how I see what's happening with W now. It's been a gradual realization. I've got to start a new mantra, something like "Not rejection - space" to help me take it slow.
