Years ago I saw a comic of a couple meeting, getting married, raising a family and then entering old age. The last panel was the aged husband smiling but with obviously mourning the death of his wife and placing flowers on her grave.

Paraphrasing the words it said "You were one of the lucky ones to have experienced this reality and we were lucky to have experienced it with you."

To me, grief is a timeline coming to an end. We mouring the passing of a life, a relationship, a friendship. Love is what bonded us to that timeline. I'm fond of saying that love is renewable but time is not, time gives that love meaning.