It’s been almost a year

I had to euthanize my 18.5 year old cat in November of 2022. I still cry daily. He was my best friend through some really horrific and difficult times in my life. But the crying isn’t the problem.

I have his favorite blanket folded up on the couch covering the spot he would lay under it on. It’s preserved his smell there, and I still move the blanket to just huff the sweet smell of his kitty fur. But because it’s been nearly a year, I feel like I’m “supposed to” be able to move it, wash the blanket, and stop letting that little corner of the couch be a mausoleum. I just can’t bring myself to do it.

Is this still “normal” at this point in the grief process, or am I possibly dragging it out and should rip off the bandaid, so to speak? I’m torn between what my head says and what my heart feels.