Yes. Don't be afraid he might "visit" you, from the other side, in a dream, if that's what's keeping you awake. I've had several "communions" with my deceased brother in dreams. The first time it happened, I thought I was dead too, freaked out and woke up. Then I thought "Why am I afraid of that?". The dream was SOOO peaceful. The next time it happened, I forced myself to stay under, stay unconscious, raced right in and embraced my brother. He smiled. I then hung out as long as he wanted me to. I then woke up next day, refreshed, having gotten the best, deepest night of sleep in my life. God, and my brother who is part of God, rejuvinated me.

There is a widow/widower support group on Daily Strength with lots of support and helpful hints. ((Hug))

My sister died in 2011, my mother in 2014. My father had a similar conversation with my sister's husband after mom died. They both reported that it took quite a while before they got a full night's sleep.

So the sleep thing is completely natural. You will sort it out in time, so don't see waking up/not getting uninterrupted sleep as a "failure". Just see it as a symptom of where you are in the grief cycle.

I am so very sorry for your loss. My dad died unexpectedly, mom was rather long and drawn out. Both are hard, so I'm not even going to try to tell you one way or the other. Your loss was hard no matter what.

Gentle hugs

I think the fear of sleep is a fear WE might not wake up, WE might die too. But once you have one of these communions with your loved one in a dream, you'll realize the other side is so peaceful and full of love, that death, in the sense of departing our physical bodies, is nothing to fear, but in fact is total bliss.

Sorry for your loss I lost my dad and my husband a day apart. My dad was sick awhile, but My husband died suddenly. I put a body pillow next to me in bed and if you have clothes that still smell like him put them on or in the pillowcase and hug that thing. try to journal your feelings of pissed offness that he left you in a abrupt manner. that you dont know how to go on. You are going to get through this this place is here for you to vent and get suggestions of how to deal with stages of grief. Journaling is really helping me. hugs, Donna

hi, I'd suggest you join the widows and widowers group and ask there, there are various OTC sleep aids, I was offered and took sleeping pills by my doctor but they caused issues for me and I limited the use to only a day or so

http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Widows-Widowers/support-group

I am having the exact same problems. I lost my older sister in late October this year and it has completely devastated me. I wouldn't really say I had sleep problems before either, I would always wake up way to early and then start falling asleep when it was time for me to get up. Since she passed I can't just lay in bed and wait for sleep to come because all I do is think of her, and the circumstances around her passing. It's horrible.

I have tried staying up as late as possible but it's not practical since I'm working. I recently got a prescription sleeping pill from my doctor as I 'm that desperate. Before that I would get in bed and listen to grief help videos on youtube to try to combat the silence of just laying there thinking. Usually I could fall asleep to these things. Even just watching something on my ipad will be something to stare at and sometimes i put me to sleep. My problem is staying asleep! I'd wake up at 3:00 am or 3:30 am and be wide awake until 6am when my alarm went off. Needless to say that is a horrible way to start each day, not to mention I'm still mourning. It's not like I'm just up late, it's the fact that you have such tragic events constantly on your mind. You can't turn that off.

Try watching TV so that there is some noise and possible distractions. If you are tired enough this can lull you into sleep.