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It's rare that anything posted on the Internet is met with any emotion other than disdain, so we were touched and impressed by the warm response to a Best of Craigslist post called "A Letter to My Dead Girlfriend."

Written by an anonymous guy from Chicago, the original letter is not a plea for any services or help, it's just one man's heartbreaking attempt to update his girlfriend on what's going on with him -- and her friends -- since she passed away. Once it hit Reddit, however, people started responding with their own tales of grief and coping, and it quickly became a massive group therapy session.

People are of course wondering if the original poster is real, since he never included an email address, but if his post was able to help so many people open up about grief in their own lives, I don't know that it even matters. Here's text of the original Craigslist post:

It has been a rough year darling. The ethereal power of Craig's List will get this message to you I am sure, like in some sort of cheesy 80s movie.

Well back to the last year, you of course died at the beginning of it which put things to a sour start. I spent last night with your mum and dad, we went to that Italian place in Wicker Park, who on the surface seem to be coping. I had everyone get together for my 25th which went well, your ladies are on top form and I think some engagements are brewing. Ellen is turning up the heat on Steve who will soon be forced down to one knee as you predicted.

Last weekend I finally took the step of cleaning out your clothes from the closet, which is very barren now. I invited your friends over to take your what they liked, it was an awkward session. I think they took them more as a favor to me than anything else. Liz cried when we pulled out all of your shoes, Miranda joined in and then Catherine broke down. It was strange to stand in our bedroom surrounded by three crying girls. I made a joke about them crying for joy at the prospect of some free Manolo Balhniks which they didn't seem to find very funny.

A few girls have put the moves on and as you know picking up women is not a forte of mine. It seems the grieving boyfriend seems to be a good angle. Who knew! I went on one date and spent it talking about you, the poor girl. You would have found it quite witty I think. No other dates to report, I am going against your orders to move on for now.

I found one of those hair tie things that somehow managed to squeeze into every crevice in the apartment. It was under the bed. I sat on the floor holding it and cried. Until then I had held everything together but it just all came flooding out.

Every morning when I wake up I forget for a fraction of a second that you are gone and I reach for you. All I ever find is the cold side of the bed. My eyes settle on the picture of us in Paris, on the bedside table, and I am overjoyed that even though the time was brief I loved you and you loved me.

Love,

P.
The original post is found here, and the Reddit comments are found here. If you have any similar experiences with grief and moving on, or any other reactions to this post, we'd love to hear them in our comments.

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