My close friend is dead and I am in pain, why can’t I grieve?

PHOTO:COURTESY

I lost a really close friend to a road accident a few months ago and I am finding it very hard to cope. This was a lady who was like a sister to me and her sudden death hit me very hard. I however feel like I have no right to grieve or talk about what I feel because she was not my blood relation so I have no “right’ over her but the pain and loss I feel is gnawing at me. What can I do? How do I allow myself to really grieve my friend?

To think we only mourn those related to us by blood is wrong. Some friends come into our lives and they become closer than family. Someone once said that friends are the siblings God did not give us directly.