I have a deadline and more important stuff to do right now, but seeing your answer and presuming (possibly wrong) that the parent has gone through some sort of "depression", I have to say that these "get over yourself" and "it's all in your head"-type of answers are mightily infuriating. They don't solve anything, they make it worse.
I am actually a bit sorry, I guess I was in a foul mood. I just couldn't relate much to that feeling of entitlement. I don't necessarily think that guy is going through a depression, though.
He did something, it failed. It is normal to be sad about that for a while. No special intervention might be necessary.
The difference to me is that one is the pain of realizing "hey, I am not the glorious human being I thought I am" and other pain is caused by real loss. Sorry if I can not sympathize in this case, to me there is just some aspect of humility missing.
Of course it is a real pain, too, but it is not the end of the world. Shame about the girl-friend, though.
