Vi, I can relate so well to that "licking my wounds" description. And to not wanting to contact anyone...needing alone time to get used to that new empty space within me. It was like a toothache that the tongue can't stop touching, I had to explore all the nuances of my anguish, sit in my orphanhood and figure out how to carry on from here.

I think it's a normal facet of grief for some of us "profound feelers" to retreat for awhile. A necessary hibernation in order to come to terms with our new emptiness. My grief may have gone beyond normal, but my grief was exacerbated by work-related burnout and subsequent spiral into depression.