Yes, this is exactly how I’ve felt with the death of every pet. The line “The freedom is welcome but not entirely comfortable, like a gift of clothing that I couldn’t otherwise afford.” so perfectly captures it. My method of grieving when I lose a pet is to embrace the little things lots of people take for granted but…

Some people have very legitimate difficulties waking up in the morning, for a variety of reasons. If you need to be told that, you might want to reassess your empathy habits.