Hello,
Ow I have had this time very recently, namely last year. I am not going to tell you it was easy, actually I believe it was one of the hardest I have had and I have had Pluto opposite natal sun couple of years ago.
It is a long transit awakening all kinds of helpless situations: I have witnessed four key people at the center of my life leaving me: a father with whom I havem't really had a great relationship died quite suddenly. I have faced losing my mother to a mental institution, which did not happened fortunately and thank God, but I felt as if it was a matter of time. Enough feeling to materially feel as if it did happen. I have gone through a break-up, and I have lost a dear friend, a flat-mate. All these in 6 months: just one after another, and each time the aspect was tight, I was crying, depressed, hopeless, endless amount of sadness and name what.
But you know what? I am soo different right now. So much more true to myself. I could open my heart to someone new, and I am not the kind of person who does that easily as a Pisces ascendant, Cancer sun, I do love profoundly and have hard time with the changes forgetting forgiving etc.
I changed because I had to: as otherwise it was self-evident that I could not survive. But I changed because I also wanted to and transformed that wish into a commitment. I started to do creative writing, following the Julia Cameron's book the Artist's Way : morning pages. I wrote hundreds of pages, I delved into shamanism, I have had the most amazing meditative experience of all times: 8 minuted in which I performed without knowing what they call in shamanism: the soul retrieval. I started to see the ways in which I wasn't true to myself: as before that transit I was completely alienated from myself anyway.
I could write more and more about this but there is one message: I truly am grateful that I was given the chance to go through this. It transformed me into myself, from whom I was alienated and I did not even know.
You wouldn't feel like liking the transit. But maybe it is the universe's way to tell that the world is not meant to party and be happy all the time. The world is also the place where you go through your deep wounds, sadness and come to a point of more enduring and accepting happiness.
Again, there are much more, but just remember, even very painful most of the time, you might fall in love with your self after the transit. I think I did.
Best of luck in anycase, I hope nothing I wrote here would be representative of your sadness or loss. Sending you the very best wishes.