When that person dies, the emptiness cannot be filled by other people. Activities and distractions don't help. Wendy's mother wasn't interchangeable with other relatives. Even if her father remarried, her new mother wouldn't be the same not that she might love her less but simply that no two people are alike and Wendy would always, in some way, remain loyal to her mother. Understanding and support facilitate the mourning process so that life can be lived once again.
Stoicism is courageous, but it is only a halfway house on the long road.
It is a shield, permissible for a short time only. In the end one has to discard the shield and remain open and vulnerable. Otherwise, scar tissue will seal off the wound and no growth will follow. To grow, to be reborn, one must remain vulnerable open to love but also hideously open to the possibility of more suffering. The ability to remain open includes seeing the deceased honestly rather than in an idealized manner.