Family events and personal grief can sometimes collide in overwhelming ways.

The unexpected passing of a close family member is one good example of these.

Here’s a story about a man who recently lost his last living grandparent and is also dealing with a major work promotion.

So, he had to cancel a prior plan to attend her sister-in-law’s baby shower across the country.

While he has good reasons for it, some family members might not fully understand what he may be going through.

Check out the full details below.

WIBTA: If I Didn’t Go to My SIL’s Baby Shower

My SIL, my wife’s brother’s wife, is having a baby shower at the end of April.

My wife is going to fly out there with our 8-month-old.

She will be there for a week to be with her family and celebrate the baby shower.

This man was planning to go, but something unexpectedly happened…

I was invited and was planning to go.

But this past week my grandma, unfortunately, passed away.

She was my last remaining grandparent and was very important to me.

I am not handling the loss well.

He thinks he’ll just be stressed when he goes away for a week.

I mentioned to my wife I might not be in the mood to take a week off and head out there for a baby shower.

I am also getting a promotion in the middle of April.

This will make me more stressed on top of losing my last grandparent.

Her mom is going to visit us a week before to meet her grandson for the first time.

She will then fly with my wife to go to the baby shower.

His reasons for not flying continue to add up.

I just feel overwhelmed right now with having to take a week off and be out there.

To add, my grandparents died in a horrific plane crash when I was younger.

So I already have stress about flying.

Now, with my last grandma dying, the thought of getting on a plane is stressing me beyond belief.

But he also thinks that by October, his stress might have subsided.

Another thing to add is that the SIL was just diagnosed with cancer while pregnant with their first child.

I planned on coming out, but with the loss of my last grandparent and the promotion, I am just beyond stressed to go out for a week.

We already have a plane ticket booked to fly out in October to meet the baby.

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I feel like by that time my stress will be a lot more subdued. I 100 percent plan on going out then.

It’s always difficult to be stuck in a situation where unexpected things happpen, and they can significantly affect your emotions.

Have you ever faced a similar incident? How did you deal with it? Let’s see how others reacted to this story.

This person shares some comforting words.

Everyone will understand, says this one.

Here’s a similar thought.

Short and simple.

Finally, here’s a valid point.

Sometimes, life doesn’t agree with your prior schedule and forces you to move things around.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about siblings who treat every social outing like a weird competition.