Congratualtions on making this decision and opening a new chapter. You are opening to door to new opportunities for growth as you go on in the world.

As to the grief you are feeling, I know this feeling well. It’s kind of like preemptive homesickness. It is very normal.

The good news is that we humans are very adaptable. What seems like a painful loss right now will be forgotten as you move on in the day-to-day of your new life.

Like Inky said, these people are not static characters in your life. As I get older I’m starting to realize more and more that everyone, even your parents (my own parents always seemed to me very static and stable fixtures in my life), are on their own journey, their own path in life. Everything eventually changes, all good things must end, and all that.

Perhaps this feeling of grief can help you to take stock of all the good and comforting things in this phase of your life that you will seek out as you go on?

LW