Absence can become familiar without ever becoming preferred.

In time you can get used to the empty chair without ever once preferring it. Familiarity is not acceptance in the sense of approval; it is just what repetition does. People sometimes feel guilty when the missing stops being an emergency, as though comfort meant consent. It does not. You can live in a rearranged life and still know it should not have been rearranged.

When the routine starts to run smoothly again, let that be practical rather than meaningful. It does not settle any argument you have with the loss. You are allowed to function and to object at the same time.