[Update] My [23/M] girlfriend [21/F] of 1 year is going through the loss of her brother, but I have a hard time empathizing with people. I can't give her the emotional support she needs and I feel like an *******.

Original
My girlfriend and I were sitting on the couch together. Randomly, she said “I love youâ€, and explained how grateful she was to be with me. She told me I was making it a lot easier to grieve her brother’s death, and she wouldn’t know what to do without me. She said I was the best boyfriend she could ever wish for and my company alone was helping her tremendously.
I couldn’t believe my girlfriend. She'd witnessed her brother die, was still grieving his death and yet could still find the strength in herself to make my day a little better.
I turned soft -- I felt something inside of me… something I’d never felt before. My eyes started to water. I couldn’t believe it. I was going to cry. My girlfriend saw this, and she couldn't believe it either. That was my trigger. I started bawling. For the first time in my life, I cried. I was embarrassed.
She started crying too, we embraced each other. I cried with her until my tears ran dry. I told her how much I missed my brother. I told my girlfriend how afraid I was of losing her because of my lack of empathy. I told her how unfair it was for me to put my emotional distress on her.
My girlfriend was very receptive. She said it was okay for me to be emotional around her. She said helping me find my lost emotions was the most meaningful thing for her in the world.
My understanding of life has changed for the better ever since that day. I feel like a real human being. I’m able to understand what my girlfriend is going through. It took me 8 months, but I’ve finally started mourning the death of my brother.
My girlfriend has been a lot happier these last few days. She says it’s a direct result of me finding my emotions. This couldn’t have been possible without her. I'm so grateful to have her be a part of my life. My love and undying gratitude for her can't be translated into words. She's the only woman that gave me a chance after hearing about my “conditionâ€, and the only one to help me with it. I couldn't ask for more from my girlfriend. I love her.

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tl;dr: My girlfriend and I were sitting on the couch together. She said she loved me and gave me compliments for being a great boyfriend. My eyes watered and I cried for the first time in my life. I told my girlfriend how afraid I was of losing her. I told her how much I missed my brother. I told her how unfair it was for me to be putting my emotions on her when she's in a time of need. My girlfriend reassured me. She said helping me find my emotions was the most meaningful thing in the world for her.
My understanding of life has changed since then. I feel like a real person now. Someone who can express the full range of emotions that a normal human should be able to. This all happened because of my girlfriend, I love her so much. I can empathize with what she's going through now, and fully support her in her time of need.


Source.