@Annie I have had some recent experience where someone very close, a family member, had a blowout with lots of fallout. For me at times it seemed surreal, my little potato head trying to craft some sort of sense to it when perhaps there was none to be found, or none that I could understand.

You sound like you’re your own best friend here, considering where you land. "...one tiny step at a time." Although it is famously easier said than done, it is just step, step, step, etc.

[ edit: proper quote ]