Losing someone close to us is one of the most difficult experiences we can have. When we lose a distant relative, an acquaintance, a friend of a friend–that loss can often feel different, but it doesn’t mean you don’t feel the loss. Let’s take a moment to give some space for the sometimes confusing grief that comes with losing a distant acquaintance.

I’m getting ready for work one morning and I have an algorithmically derived playlist on in the background. It’s playing my favourite genre; a mix of songs I love and new ones it thinks I’ll enjoy. When I hear the opening chords of a song I adored in high school, I get first that familiar rush of nostalgia and care and then the crashing horror as I’m reminded of the trial, the verdict - an artist I once loved having done something horrific.