My grandmother passed in January and my grandfather has been moving through the stages. Currently he is doing a I am so lonely bit I just want to be alone. I keep trying to get him interested in things that the facility has going on but he doesn't seem interested in anything but western movies an. Calling bingo. I have been working with the facility management on more male related things since most of their activities are female orientated. There are lots of things in the works but I am afraid he will give up before the weather warms up. Anything else I can try?
As others have said, this grief thing takes time, sometimes years. He sounds okay doing bingo and such. Just keep doing what you're doing. Grandpa's lucky to have you!
Sometimes just writing down what he wishes he could say can be cathartic. No need to ever show it to anyone. Put it away or burn it after getting it out. Just writing it down is a lot. No need to explain anything to anyone. I even wrote letters to my younger self at difficult times and it made a difference.