It's different when the person you love dies. There's an awful finality to death. But it is final. The end. And there's the funeral, family gatherings, grieving, all of those necessary rituals. And they help, believe me. When the object of your love just disappears, there's no way to deal with the grief and pain.
Of love and life: three novels selected and condensed by Reader's Digest (ed. 2001) - ISBN: 9780276426766