Jess Walton jill gallery "The Young and the Restless" Set CBS television CityLos Angeles01/15/20© Howard Wise/jpistudios.com310-657-9661
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI

There are some anniversaries we wish we could skip.

The Young and the Restless‘ Jess Walton (Jill) got an early start to her day by sharing a tweet. Something had clearly been weighing on her as she’d “been having a really hard day” before heading to bed the night before. Once she understood why it had been happening, though, the day hadn’t gotten any easier. But at least she knew how to face it.

“It’s been six months yesterday,” since the passing of her husband, John James, she tweeted. “Six months is a hard milestone for grievers. Thank God for the love and the legacy of @GriefRecovery my sweet husband left behind.”

Walton and James had been together for 40 years when he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. He passed just three months later.

When it comes to trauma and loss, even if our conscious minds don’t always make the connection to milestones, our bodies and our subconscious often do. There’s a part of us that always feels echoes of the loss.

But that’s something we have no doubt Walton knows, as her husband left her and their loved ones with a tool to cope with his loss, The Grief Recovery Program. The actress has made clear time and again that the company that he founded and the aid he left behind has helped her work through his sudden passing.

Though still early on the West Coast, both Greg Rikaart (Young & Restless‘ Kevin and Days of Our Lives‘ Leo) and Genoa City’s former Avery, Jessica Collins both offered their love.

Our hearts go out to Walton as well as she works through yet another sad milestone. And the hearts of her fans went out as well, with many sharing their own stories of loss and mourning, as they found comfort in each other’s shared experiences.

But we know that the actress will come out of this stronger than ever as she remembers the love and the light that her husband brought into her life.

It’s been a year of loss in the daytime world, so if you’re feeling up to it before you go, why not check out our gallery honoring the soap stars who’ve passed in the past year. A few of them have hit their own sad milestones.