One of the darkest periods of my recovery was when I finally had to accept that my son may die in his disease. I had to go through a grief process to get past this pain and it was much harder and much more painful than I thought it would be...but it did end and the light shone once more. I have never given up hope, but I no longer use hope as an expectation and today it has a special place in my heart, right next to faith.
I was told that the only way to get past the pain was to walk through it and found that so true. I know now that I never have to revisit that dark place again.
I think we all grieve the loss of what was, what might have been and the person we knew before addiction. It's a natural process but that doesn't make it any easier.
By sticking very close to our support, working our program and praying a lot, we get through it, and having gone through it we grow.
Hugs