Still grieving after all these years
Seven years ago, my brother's wife and their three daughters were driving to visit another friend out of state. They'd hardly gone more than a few miles out of town before his wife inexplicably veered off the road and into an embankment, crashing about 150 feet from the top of the highway. No one was properly belted, and everyone in the car received injuries. The middle child was the most severely injured, however, and was taken to the hospital with serious head injuries. She never regained consciousness and died approximately one week later.
My sister-in-law was never able to explain to my brother or to the police why she left the road, and she was cited for reckless driving. While no one feels that she caused the accident intentionally, her behavior is difficult to understand. And since she passed away herself several years ago, we obviously will never know precisely what happened that afternoon.
My brother has never fully recovered from the loss of his daughter, who was only 11. I feel that he uses her death as an excuse to remain stagnant in life. He remains under-employed and lonely, and has difficulty forming new friendships and keeping active. I know that grieving is different for each person, but seven years is quite a long time to be paralyzed by such sorrow. Is there anything I can tell him or suggest to him that might help him to move on? Thanks.