getting married and both parents have passed.

My [22F] wedding is coming up in October, and the closer it gets, the more the grief is creeping in. [My dad died at 68 when I was 15 and my mom died at 60 when I was 20] I am planning my wedding with some of my close friends who I consider family, which I am extremely grateful for, but it never seems to be enough to fight the hole I feel in my heart that my family is not there.

My extended family isn’t close with me and I am feeling so isolated. My best friend got engaged and I am watching her family celebrate and I feel terrible for not being as excited as I want to be for her because the absence of my family is so painful.

Any advice on how to survive this? I don’t understand why even happy things are so so so hard after all this time.