Losing a best friend is a real loss. Grieve it like one instead of pretending it’s nothing.

Endings that are not deaths or breakups get no ceremony, so people assume they are not supposed to hurt much. A close friendship is often where most of your daily life happened, and losing it removes routines, plans and the person you told things to, all at once. Minimizing it does not make it pass faster.

Let yourself be sad about this properly, and say out loud to someone that it was a real loss. Expect the reminders to come at odd times. Build new small routines slowly, without demanding that anyone replace what was there.