It's become something of dogma that grief will follow a standard trajectory: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But it's entirely possible for people to feel these in random order, or several of them at once.
Psychologist George Bonanno took up the subject in his book .
It received an update after ten years, but still holds to the idea that our emotions help us deal with loss--all of our emotions. George Bonanno visits the JX.