Took me awhile, too .My Dad still stands in hisdriveway until I pull away....watching.
I used to be tempted to (jokingly) reply to my parents " Drive carefully" with " No, I think , perhaps, I'll drive recklessly today" .
Guess I'm glad I never did.
Lost six friends in a single accident in 1978. Two were brothers and 4 of 6 lived on the same street ( less than a mile from Home ) . 4 were to graduate a week later . I'll never forget the Parents and their sense of loss. Still close friends with Three of (surviving) Parents all these years (and miles away) later . They tell me that it helped to hear me ( and other friends ) talk of their lost ones' after ( and even now ) , as it reiterated the fact that they had been part of our lives on this Earth . They said that people who feared bringing them up was just like 'pretending' they never existed. I still treasure their Families and the friendship I had with them .
I hope Katies' friends will do the same with Stig and his Family .