I know this is a weird question, so before I begin let me say that I love Stardew Valley as a game, and I've enjoyed every aspect of it. Just like you all, I've sunk what is probably an unhealthy amount of hours into the game just enjoying the world, doing my little farming thing, and having fun with zero regrets, because it's charming and rewarding, and I feel like I can really connect with Stardew "Me" and my relationships with the other townsfolk.

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So with that being said, tl;dr and probably TMI but I lost my grandfather a couple of months ago and my cat a month ago now. My grandfather basically raised my since my alcoholic dad left when I was a kid, and I've raised my cat from a kitten to 11 years old so stuff has been kind of tough for me. I'm still not over it but decided to start playing games again to get my mind off things, but starting up the game was idk, a bit paralysing to me?

Seeing my cat (who looked like my IRL kitty) just hanging out on the farm bittersweet, but mostly depressing. On top of that, I get this letter that says that grandpa's going to be judging how well I've done on the farm? It's really overwhelming to think about seeing both my cat and not meeting the expectations of my "grandfather" on the farm, so I dropped the game and haven't played it since.

Is there any way to play the game for a bit without them, because seeing their "ghosts" is a bit too much for me to handle right now.