A year after losing his girlfriend of 7 years, a man shares how caring for her two cats, Olive and Pearl, has helped all three of them grieve together.

Cats also experience grief, but they also help us humans deal with the grief we might experience.

There's no way to talk about what the Reddit user below has experienced with true integrity if you haven't experienced such a huge loss in your life as well. I don't know exactly what happened to his late girlfriend; I don't know if she dealt with health issues for a long time, or if she passed away suddenly. But two things are sure: First, she passed away young, with most of her life ahead of her. And second, she's a cat owner who left her two cats behind. Not on purpose, not because she wanted to, but because life (and its end) happens.

What I do know is that when a cat loses their person, they grieve just as a human would. They're confused because they don't know where their person has gone; they're sad because the person who brought them comfort, whom they loved, is no longer here. They go through all stages of grief while processing the fact that their person will not return. And how do you even begin to explain that to a cat? Well, you can't. All you can do is to be there for the cat, be filled with compassion and love, so they can get through this process just as a person would.

It takes a lot of emotional strength to be there for someone who lost another who was dear to them, but it takes even more if you've experienced the same loss. I can't imagine the strength this person, who lost his girlfriend of 7 years, had to gather to be there for her cats. But that's the thing - the fact that all three of them were dealing with the same loss, somehow brought him closer to the cats. And that's a grand example of the wholesomeness of raising a cat - you're there for each other, no matter what.